Pathways to Volunteering

You may be a community leader, college professor, stay-at-home mom, dad, or guardian. You may be a Girl Scout alumna who wants to stay connected. You may love collaborating with girls throughout a troop year or maybe you're looking for an opportunity to commit for a few weeks or months. Great news! Across the country, the Girl Scout community is hard at work on a new approach to making sure that all individuals (girls and adults) can participate in Girl Scouting in the ways they want to!

With the development of Girl Scout Pathways—the ways that girls and adults participate in Girl Scouting—there are now several flexible ways for adults like you to get involved by simply matching your expertise, skills, interests, and life experience to the volunteer opportunities available at councils.

As a volunteer, you can work directly with girls through any of the six proposed pathways for girls:

• Camp Girls participate in day or resident camps with a focus on the outdoors and/or environmental education
• Events Girls participate in events (e.g., career day)
• Special Interest Girls participate in a series of programs with the same group of girls relating to a specific theme or purpose (e.g., high-adventure teen group, completion of the "It's Your World—Change It!"journey over a six-week period)
• Travel Girls plan, earn money, prepare, and participate in regional, national, and international trips
• Troops Girls participate in a series of programs with the same group of girls over the course of an academic year

If you prefer, you can provide indirect service to girls through your support of other volunteers who work directly with girls by volunteering as, for example, a board member, trainer, or event planner. You can also get involved as a parent, guardian, or family of a member, and access information on girl trends and youth development, attend various events to connect with other parents or guardians, and/or advocate for girl issues. Or you can participate as a Girl Scout alumna and reconnect with other alumnae, attend events, participate in social groups, and/or advocate for girl issues.

To find out about the different rewarding volunteer opportunities that are available in your community, contact your local Girl Scout council today!