Women's Foundation of Boston 2020 Annual Report

Investing in the Power of Women & Girls 13 $59,000 Total Committed Sector: Leadership and Mentoring Target Population: Girls One of the largest local Girl Scout councils in the country, Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts (GSEMA) aims to build courage, confidence, and character in girls who want to make the world a better place. Girl Scouting provides girls the opportunity to develop the attitudes, skills, and behaviors they need to succeed in life. $9,000 COVID Funding: WFBoston’s grant covered costs for enhanced virtual meeting spaces on Zoom, laptops, professional development for virtual programming, and software licensing. WFBoston’s grant was pivotal in moving the council’s programs to a virtual space. COVID Grant Impact: WFBoston directly impacted 1,736 girls through new Girl Scouts at Home™ programming which included 53 STEM virtual programs. This allowed connections to occur and lessened the isolation felt by many girls early in the pandemic. Council-provided Zoom accounts led to some Troops meeting more frequently, some increasing from once a month to weekly. $50,000 funded for Girl Scouts at Home: Girl Scouts at Home is a virtual program for girls in grades K–12 to build essential life skills while exploring empowering, girl-led activities. GSEMA leveraged the virtual environment to engage subject matter experts―including authors, detectives, bakers, and software engineers―introducing female role models in fields of study that girls may not have accessed before. Pre-COVID, about 10% of Girl Scout members received financial aid. A survey in May 2020 reported that 31% of Girl Scout families had experienced a reduction of income due to COVID. This funding provides financial support to families in need.