New Girl Scouts curriculum addresses gender
bias, fosters economic empowerment, and aligns to current financial
education best practices
In time for Girl Scout Cookie season, Charles Schwab announced a
partnership with Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) to modernize and
relaunch the Girl Scouts' financial literacy badges for girls from
kindergarten through high school. The new financial literacy
curriculum includes topics like building wealth, entrepreneurship,
fraud awareness, budgeting for different goals throughout life and
investing basics. The emphasis on financial wellness aims to help
bridge the gap between what girls learn in school and what they
need to feel confident managing finances in life and business.
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Learning about financial literacy is an important component of
the Girl Scout Cookie Program, the largest entrepreneurial program
for girls in the world, which offers real-world opportunities to
apply lessons learned around goal setting, budgeting and planning,
critical thinking, collaboration, and organization.
“The lessons learned from the financial literacy badges lay a
strong foundation for the cookie sales program,” said Casey
Cortese, director, Schwab Community Services and former Girl Scout.
“Not only do girls learn the basics of understanding how money
works, but they also get a voice in how the funds raised through
cookie sales are used by their troops – whether it helps fund
special troop activities or to invest in giving back to their
communities. They learn the value of money and see first-hand its
impact on their current and future financial goals.”
Throughout Girl Scout history, badge programs have included
topics related to economics and money management. For example, the
Matron Housekeeper badge, introduced in 1913, encouraged girls to
understand how groceries were sold, by package, pound or bulk, and
the first badge devoted to financial literacy, the Economist Badge,
offered between 1922 and 1928, taught girls to track earnings and
allowances, and oversee family’s groceries expenses and menu
planning to use food economically. In recent decades badge programs
like Business-Wise, Consumer Power and Money Sense promoted
entrepreneurship, earning, saving and spending money wisely.
Research shows that, even today, boys and girls are often taught
different financial topics. For example, boys are more likely than
girls to be taught about wealth-building topics like investing,
while financial education programming for girls continues to focus
on topics such as household money management, budgeting and saving.
The new Girl Scout curriculum addresses the gender bias that
remains prevalent in the way girls and boys are taught about
personal finance.
“In business, women are scarce in top leadership and
entrepreneurial positions, representing just 5% of CEOs and 12% of
other top executives,” said Wendy Lou, chief revenue officer at
Girl Scouts of the USA. “The new and updated GSUSA financial
literacy programming is designed to empower and equip Girl Scouts
as they contemplate career and personal aspirations, develop the
skills needed to make a difference in their own lives and the
world, and open an accessible pathway for girls to fill these
roles.”
In designing the new financial literacy badge series, Schwab
supported GSUSA to create an activity-based experience to engage
girls throughout their school years, tailored to their age and
interests through a modular approach.
At the earliest stages of the new curriculum, Daisies and
Brownies in kindergarten through third grade explore everything
from the difference between wants and needs and creating a budget
and saving. In grades four through eight, Juniors and Cadettes
focus on earning, budgeting, tracking spending, and giving back. In
high school, Seniors and Ambassadors sharpen budgeting skills,
learn about credit and credit cards, and explore investing and
wealth management. An important element of the Girl Scout troop
model is that it pairs high-quality programming with active role
models and supportive adults, including parents, which is proven to
amplify the impact and reach of programming.
“It’s detrimental to send our girls out into the real world
without the education and tools that can lead to financial
independence,” said Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, president of Charles
Schwab Foundation and former Girl Scout. “I have seen first-hand
how impactful it is for girls to have female financial role models.
Our partnership with Girls Scouts will help empower the next
generations of young girls to lead at the highest levels of
business and society.”
GSUSA is one of the largest youth-serving organizations in the
country, offering a myriad of opportunities for Schwab employees to
volunteer and engage with local troops on financial literacy
topics. In 2022, Schwab and GSUSA piloted volunteer models for
financial literacy training in six key Schwab employment locations,
aiming to create an effective and replicable employee engagement
program that Schwab will launch nationally in 2023.
About Charles Schwab
At Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCHW) we believe in the power of
investing to help individuals create a better tomorrow. We have a
history of challenging the status quo in our industry, innovating
in ways that benefit investors and the advisors and employers who
serve them, and championing our clients’ goals with passion and
integrity. More information is available at www.aboutschwab.com.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.
About Charles Schwab Foundation
Charles Schwab Foundation is an independent nonprofit public
benefit corporation, funded by The Charles Schwab Corporation and
classified by the IRS as a charity under section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code. The Foundation is neither a part of Charles
Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC) nor its parent company, The
Charles Schwab Corporation. Its mission is to educate, volunteer
and advocate on behalf of those in need so that everyone has the
opportunity to achieve financial well-being. More information is
available at www.schwabmoneywise.com/foundation.
About Girl Scouts of the USA
Girl Scouts bring their dreams to life and work together to
build a better world. Through programs from coast to coast, Girl
Scouts of all backgrounds and abilities can be unapologetically
themselves as they discover their strengths and rise to meet new
challenges—whether they want to climb to the top of a tree or the
top of their class, lace up their boots for a hike or advocate for
climate justice, or make their first best friends. Backed by
trusted adult volunteers, mentors, and millions of alums, Girl
Scouts lead the way as they find their voices and make changes that
affect the issues most important to them. To join us, volunteer,
reconnect, or donate, visit girlscouts.org.
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E.J. Bernacki Charles Schwab 415-823-3523
e.j.bernacki@schwab.com
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