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Building girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place 2017 Annual Report Leadership note The Future is Bright We are reminded that 107 years ago, our founder Juliette Gordon Low was the ultimate G.I.R.L. Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, and Leader. She not only envisioned an organization that would inspire girls to pursue personal growth, she made that dream a reality for millions around the world through her passion and dedication to the movement she started. Today Girl Scouts has evolved and transformed to continue this mission for girls in the 21st century. Reflecting on 2017, we are proud to see our 6,700 girls develop the courage, confidence, character, and leadership skills that will transform their lives, their communities, and our shared future. We could not do this without the continued support of our members, donors, and partners. We look forward to our continued work together to strategically position Girl Scouts of Michigan Shore to Shore to bring the Girl Scout experience to every girl throughout our wonderfully broad and diverse council. The future of girls and Girl Scouts of Michigan Shore to Shore looks bright! Yours in Girl Scouting, Deborah Hughes Barbara Hill Board Chair Chief Executive Officer At a glance Our Mission Girl Scouts’ mission is to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. Guided by supportive adults and peers, girls in kindergarten through 12th grade develop their leadership potential through age-appropriate activities that enable them to discover their values, skills, and the world around them; connect with others in a multicultural environment; and take action to make a difference in their world. As a result, all Girl Scout activities are designed to be girl led, cooperative, and hands-on processes that create high-quality experiences conducive to learning. The Girl Scout Leadership Experience, the framework for defining what girls do in Girl Scouting and how they do it, was born out of years of research and development and engages girls through four categories of learning: 1) STEM (Science, Technology, Education and Mathematics); 2) Outdoors (including adventure and travel); 3) Life Skills (goal setting, making healthy decisions, dealing with bullies, etc.) and 4) Entrepreneurship (including the Girl Scout Cookie Program). Girls progress through age appropriate programming in these areas through the completion of Girl Scout Journeys and Badges. The Girl Scout Difference Girl Scouts offers the best leadership development experience for girls Girl Scouts unleashes the G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader)™ in every girl, preparing her for a lifetime of leadership—from taking a night-time hike under the stars to accepting a mission on the International Space Station; from lobbying the city council with her troop to holding a seat in Congress; from running her own cookie business today to tackling cybersecurity tomorrow. Our Girl Scout Leadership Experience is a one-of-a-kind leadership development program for girls, with proven results. It is based on time-tested methods and research-backed programming that help girls take the lead—in their own lives and in the world. Research shows that girls learn best in an all-girl, girl-led, and girl-friendly environment. Girl Scouts is a place where she’ll practice different skills, explore her potential, take on leadership positions—and even feel allowed to fail, dust herself off, Did you know? get up, and try again. Girl Scouts fuels the female leadership pipeline. Girl Scouts is proven to help girls thrive in five key ways as they: • Develop a strong sense of self. 50% OF FEMALE • Seek challenges and learn from setbacks. BUSINESS LEADERS • Display positive values. 80% • Form and maintain healthy relationships. OF FEMALE TECH LEADERS • Identify and solve problems in the community. 76% The inclusive, all-female environment of a Girl Scout troop creates a OF FEMALE safe space where girls can try new things, develop a range of skills, take U.S. SENATORS on leadership roles, and just be themselves. 100% OF FEMALE U.S. SECRETARIES OF STATE Girl Scouts takes the potential of girls, combines it with robust ...WERE GIRL SCOUTS. skill-building programming, and adds caring adult mentors and strong female role models. Everything a Girl Scout does centers around STEM, the outdoors, development of life skills, and entrepreneurship, and is designed to meet her where she is now and to grow along with her. Whether she’s building a robotic arm, coding her first app, building a shelter in the backcountry, or packing for her first hike, a Girl Scout has an exciting array of choices to suit her interests at every age. At Girl Scouts, “Can I?” quickly turns into “I will!” as girls transform their ideas into action, turn their questions into adventure, and grow their confidence through practice. And with more than 50 million other G.I.R.L.s to cheer them on every step of the way, there’s no limit to what she can accomplish. Girl Scouts works. It’s the best leadership experience for girls in the world for STEM one very good reason: it’s girl-led! OUTDOORS LIFE SKILLS ENTREPRE- NEURSHIP 1 Council information and financials 2017 Financials Income Annual Giving & Gifts $34,287 United Way $33,508 Grants $188,992 Product Sales $2,366,575 Program & Membership Revenue $66,715 Sales of Merchandise $96,453 Interest/Investment Income & Misc. $230,192 Total Income $3,016,722 GSMISTS Service Centers Grand Rapids Service Center Expenses Program Services $2,002,167 3275 Walker Ave. NW Management $185,416 Grand Rapids, MI 49544 Fundraising $105,364 p 616.784.3341 Total Expenses $2,292,947 Muskegon Service Center 1217 Muskegon River Road Muskegon, MI 49445 Depreciation $134,038 p 231.744.4774 Net Gain/(Loss) $589,737 Traverse City Service Center Change in Assets 1820 Oak Hollow Drive Net Assets, beg/yr $4,037,172 Traverse City, MI 49686 Net Assets, end/yr $4,626,909 p 231.947.7354 gsmists.org 2017 Income 844-GSMISTS Program & Membership Revenue (2%) Sales of Merchandise (3%) Officers Chair, Deborah Hughes 1st Vice President, Verna George Interest/Investment Income & Misc (8%) 2nd Vice President, Beth Kiisk Milanowski Annual Giving & Gifts (1%) Treasurer, Gail Montgomery United Way (1%) Secretary, Judy Dennis Grants (6%) Members At Large Product Sales (79%) Roya Bruce Karen Feahr Michelle Jones 2017 Expenses Brenda Lindberg Evan Lucas Program Services Jeanine Marbury-Bryant India Adams Manns Management (8%) Sharron Pitts Chart Title Roberto Torres Fundraising (5%) Theresa Van Veelen Management Shannon Wilson Program Services (87%) Staff Mary Charles, Interim Chief Fundraising Executive Officer Membership 2017 Membership Year Adults – 3,158 Girls – 6,738 Daisies: 1,464 Brownies: 1,986 Juniors: 1,726 Cadettes: 1,039 Seniors: 265 Ambassadors: 173 Grade Unknown: 85 Volunteer Services Girl Scout Volunteer ToolKit In 2017, the Girl Scout Volunteer ToolKit (VTK) was introduced to our volunteers as an online planning tool for troop leaders. The Toolkit provides program content and other resources to manage the troop planning all year long - and keep it going smoothly. What volunteers are saying: “I like that there are meeting plans and schedules to follow. I also like being able to keep track of the patches my girls earn. The “my troop” feature that allows me to email all of the parents at once is great, too - I use that a lot.” Programming “The work of today is the history of tomorrow, and we are its makers.” - Juliette Gordon Low Our program managers are making history by providing quality programs, events and community partnerships through Girl Scouts of Michigan Shore to Shore’s council-wide “You Schedule it” program. In 2017, our community partners grew from 7 to just over 100 community partners in one year. The girls had opportunities from Broadway productions of “WICKED” to “SPARK Events” where they toured and participated in STEM activities with real companies in their communities. 3 Girl Scouts and STEM Changing the World with Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math Girls are natural-born scientists! They look at the world around them with inquisitive eyes, experiment and push boundaries, and learn as they go. We introduce Girl Scouts of every age to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) to help them see how they can actually improve the world - whether they’re discovering how a car’s engine runs, learning to manage finances, or caring for animals. We’d like every girl to explore different aspects of STEM every year, so we’ve developed a unique, “fun with purpose” K-12 curriculum to inspire girls to embrace and celebrate scientific discovery in their lives. By inspiring girls to discover more of what they really care about, Leadership Journeys are an essential part of Girl Scouting. Girls explore a wide range of interests along their Journeys - everything from the arts to the outdoors and, of course, STEM. For example, in the It’s Your Planet-Love It! series, girls can explore the natural world by learning about the water cycle, completing energy audits, assessing air quality, calculating their “food print” and learning kitchen science, and figuring out how much trash is created and how to reduce it. To learn more, download How Girl Scout STEM Programs Benefit Girlsat girlscouts.org/research. Spark Events Inspiring girls to dream big when they think about their future, and bring girls together with STEM professionals in their work spaces. This year, we partnered with several companies who continuted helping girls explore STEM using real world examples and hands-on projects. 4 Community Partners By partnering with companies throughout our Outdoor council, the Community Partners program offers Blandford Nature Center (Grand Rapids) programs for Girl Scouts in all of the Girl Scout Camp Newaygo (Newaygo) Program Pillars: STEM, Outdoors, Life Skills, and City of Kentwood Parks & Recreation (Kentwood) Eagle Village Camp & Retreat (Hersey) Entrepreneurship.

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