By Monika Samtani, Co-Founder, and Emily Montague, Senior Editor, The Fem Word

Lidia Soto-Harmon has been the CEO of the largest Girl Scout Council in the country for 12 years. She grew up in Ecuador and El Salvador where the program was not available, and was only introduced to the organization when her own daughter became a Girl Scout Brownie. Now as CEO, she says she feel greatly privileged to be in a position to build “girls of courage, confidence, and character and I always like to add a four[th] C for compassion. Only in Girl Scouting do we have girls of all abilities, all religions, and all racial and ethnic backgrounds together.”

The Fem Word had the honor to sit down with Lidia to learn about her journey, what Girls Scouts Nations Capital is focused on, and of course - she answers the question we all want to ask - what’s your favorite cookie?!

Lidia Soto-Harmon, Chief Executive Officer, Girl Scouts Nation's Capital
PHOTO: Girl Scouts Nation's Capital

The Girl Scout Council of the Nation's Capital has been around for 110 years now, and many of us here in the USA grew up with the organization as a household name. What was your first experience with the Girl Scouts? Were you a Girl Scout when you were a kid, or did it enter your life later on?

I love Girl Scouts. I did not grow up as a Girl Scout. In the countries where I lived, Ecuador and El Salvador, it was not something that was available to me but…I became a Girl Scout when my daughter joined as a Girl Scout Brownie, and [I am] proud that she earned the highest award in Girl Scouting – the Gold Award. I think that through her and through my work I have experienced Girl Scouting to the fullest. I am always so inspired when I meet grown women who have saved their sashes from their Girl Scout days and have so many memories about overcoming challenges and fears. I know that we have been around for 110 years, [and] we will be here another century at least.

The expectations, standards, and roles girls are faced with now are much different than the ones they faced one hundred, fifty, or even twenty years ago. We’re living in a time of immense social change, especially when it comes to the way society views the female sex. What kinds of changes have you seen happen within your own lifetime, so far? Which shifts have surprised you the most, in either a positive or a negative way?

We are always evolving. Given social media pressures, I think girls today face more scrutiny than ever before. They say the average teen will have thousands of pictures taken with their phones before they turn 18. We understand the girls are vulnerable to the confidence gap that happens as they grow up and at Girl Scouts we want to provide a space where they can enjoy being a kid, being playful, and learning in a nonjudgmental environment. I also think that we have come a long way to understanding the pressure that young people are having when it comes to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. My hope is that in Girl Scouts they are finding a safe place to belong. That is what we want to [give to] all our young people.

As CEO, why is this work at Girl Scouts important to you?

Lidia with her daughter Nina when she was a Brownie

The work of the CEO is imperative. Girls need lots of mentors and champions. Many of our adult volunteers remember how hard it was to make it, and want to give back to their daughters and other Girl Scouts. I tell our Girl Scouts all the time that we are here to support them and provide a path to their success, however they define it. In my job, I straddle the opportunity to be both a mentor but also to learn from our Girl Scouts. We have a great camp that we do every fall called, “Camp CEO”. We bring the most talented, diverse group of women leaders [in] to help mentor our campers. I am always humbled and surprised that we leave the camp, feeling tired yes, but [also] rejuvenated from the experience of being around Girl Scouts that are all about the path ahead, the things they want to do, the challenges they want to conquer. In the end, the mentors and I leave feeling more inspired about the future of our planet thanks to the girls at camp.

With the advent of social media and the internet at large, girls are more connected to the world than ever before. This can be a double edged sword. As an organization, how does the Girl Scouts deal with issues like online predators, cyber-bullying, and negative messages on social platforms? The Girl Scouts is such a powerful force when it comes to combating some of the negative narratives girls are facing online, and we’d love to get some perspective on how that fight plays out on the ground, so to speak.

Social media is everywhere. According to Pew Research, 95 percent of American teens have access to a smartphone, and currently 45 percent say they use their phones constantly. In Girl Scouts we think that our role is to help girls navigate what to do with this access. How to use it in ways that help to keep them connected but aware of what it can do to their mental health. We also know that cyberbullying is real, so we have programming that teaches them how to address these issues. We have a badge that girls can earn in middle school called, “Amaze, the twists and turns of getting along.” In it, we help girls explore how to create real friendships, how to stop cyberbullying, and even sign a pledge of cyber safety. I also think that teaching girls how to have confidence is very important. The pandemic has been extremely hard on the mental health of everyone, but especially young people. Imagine leaving school in the fourth grade and not returning until sixth grade. That is a huge socio-emotional gap.

The Boy Scouts isn’t affiliated with the Girl Scouts in any official capacity, but people naturally draw parallels between the two organizations. It used to be that the Girl Scouts focused more on domestic-type skills and activities, mostly for practical reasons – these were the skills most girls would be expected to learn, and which would therefore be most useful to them. But a lot of young women and girls have a strong interest in things like outdoorsmanship, leadership training, STEM, self-defense, and other non-traditional skill sets that they’ve historically been left out of.

How is the Girl Scouts of today helping fill these gaps and connect girls to opportunities to train and hone their skills in these and other non-traditional fields?

We have been working on leadership skills for 110 years. Actually, our founder, Juliette Gordon Low, developed badges in 1912 that are still relevant today, like the Naturalist badge, which is about venturing into nature to hike and camp. The badge on Signaling, the 1912 version of texting [using] flags to communicate, and finally the Telegraphist badge, which taught elemental coding by using Morse Code. Girl Scouts have continued to develop over one million girls a year with skills in STEM, the outdoors, life skills, and entrepreneurship through our cookie program. I meet women every day that tell me that their early Girl Scout experience made all the difference in their careers as engineers, lawyers and teachers. The secret sauce in Girl Scouting is that girls get to learn [to] cooperate [by way of] doing – the best way to learn.

You probably hear about this constantly, but let’s be honest: we all adore Girl Scout cookies. What a lot of people don’t realize is that the ubiquitous “cookie season” is actually a huge business and entrepreneurship training course for Girl Scouts. Many people are also unaware of the charitable goals the cookie sales and other profit-generating activities contribute to within and outside of the organization.

You are absolutely right! The Cookie program is all about teaching girls five important skills: Goal Setting, Decision Making, Money Management, People Skills, and Business Ethics. I love that all the proceeds of the cookie sale stay in the local council, and even more importantly, that girls earn funds to do good works in the community and fund their trips. To give you a sense of their amazing work, last year Girl Scouts of the Nation’s Capital had the largest sale in the country. Our girls sold 4.1 million boxes of cookies and earned over four million dollars to help their communities from supporting first responders, painting homeless shelters, funding trips, to learning and building friendships with their troops. I am humbled by the many ways the girls use this opportunity to give back to the community. I always tell everyone if you see a Girl Scout selling cookies, at least buy two boxes. And if you don’t want to eat them, do it as a gift of caring so they are donated to shelters, hospitals, and our soldiers serving overseas.

So this is kind of a two-in-one question regarding those activities. Firstly, has business and entrepreneurship education become more of a focus within the Girl Scouts?

What has been amazing since the pandemic is that we were able to help girls open online stores; this new channel has been so well received. Girls record their “pitch” and send [it] to their family and friends. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. I continue to be inspired by girls and their efforts – one of our troops used the proceeds from their cookie sale to help stock a pantry for needy families, another troop beautified their local school garden, another troop helped to fund a trip where girls got on planes for the first time in their lives. It is life changing to see how through their own efforts girls have done amazing things for others.

We ask this because we’ve seen women making up a larger and larger percentage of new business owners, and there’s definitely an enormous demand among young women and girls – especially teens – for courses that teach them how to become a part of that percentage.

I would say that 70 percent of women business owners I meet tell me that they got their start with the cookie sale. It was the first time they had a tangible goal and saw that their selling skills could get them to close on a deal. Even the times that girls hear “no” from a customer are important. How else do we teach resilience? Not every person wants to support you, but you don’t give up. You keep trying until you get to yes. This is a hugely important lesson for Girl Scouting.

Cultivating a charitable and service-oriented mindset among girls has always been a stated priority of the Girl Scouts organization, all the way back to its earliest days. How have you pushed that goal forward during your tenure as CEO? What kinds of initiatives have you focused these efforts on, and why?

I have been the lucky CEO of the largest Girl Scout Council in the country for the full 12 years that I have been in this amazing position. I think that teaching girls about how to give back is part of the DNA of Girl Scouts. I am proudest of initiatives like “Encuentro de Chicas Latinas,” bringing Girl Scouting to first generation immigrant girls [and] taking them to a college campus so that they can see themselves in those environments. I am also very proud of the initiatives we have had to build inclusion and belonging by fostering sisterhood and compassion. I like to say that we are building girls of courage, confidence, and character and I always like to add a four[th] C for compassion. Only in Girl Scouting do we have girls of all abilities, all religions, and all racial and ethnic backgrounds together. This exposure fuels a service-oriented mindset in the 47,000 girls that we serve in the Greater Washington area. What a privilege I have to do this every day.

What’s your favorite Girl Scout Cookie?!

Well, you know that I have to say that I love ALL of them the same. They are truly delicious. I have kidded with people that a sleeve of Thin Mints is considered one serving! I have seen how a box of Girl Scout cookies does light up people’s faces.

I have a special place in my heart for the Toffetastic, it is our gluten free cookie. With so many people living with food allergies, I am glad we have a way for them to enjoy cookies too.

We like to finish our interviews with the same big-picture question. When was a moment that you felt truly powerful?

I really feel most powerful when I can use my network of amazing women mentors and community leaders for good. What I mean is that when I have a Girl Scout who is completing her Gold Award Project, the highest earned award in Girl Scouting, and she wants an introduction to someone who can help her and I know someone, that makes me feel powerful. Recently one of our amazing Gold Award Girl Scouts started a YouTube Channel to interview leaders in the aerospace industry. She reached out to me to see if I could introduce her to some people she could interview. I was able to forward her request to some of our Girl Scout friends and the project took off, she interviewed over 100 aerospace professionals. She just started her first year at Columbia University School of Engineering and I am very proud. These are the stories that make me feel powerful, when I can help others. Especially when our Girl Scouts learn that their curiosity and aspirations have no limits.

THIS ARTICLE WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF OUR PARTNERS. A HUGE THANK YOU TO LALIT AND SHUBHA VADLAMANI FOR EMPOWERING US SO WE CAN EMPOWER WOMEN!

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the interviewee, and do not necessarily reflect the position of The Fem Word organization. Any content provided by our interviewees are based on their opinions and are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual or anyone or anything.

Girl Scouts CEO Lidia Soto-Harmon on Leadership, Inclusivity, And The Famous Cookies