State of Our Council
Life Ready, To Grow our Democracy
From the desk of GSSNE CEO, Dana Borrelli-Murray, adapted from GSSNE 2025 Annual Meeting CEO Keynote address:
I want you to close your eyes and imagine a world.
“A fragmented nation along economic, ideological, racial, and ethnic lines.”
“Balancing individualism with the common good.”
“Fevered pace of life often blamed for widespread stress.”
“Anxiety mounting among the young, who face unprecedented challenges.”
“A descent into cynicism and spectatorship, or the adoption of an apocalyptic worldview"
"Paralyzed by disagreement and disillusionment.”
The Upswing, R. Putnam 2024
Not that imaginary, right? Does this all sound familiar? Well, it really shouldn’t— because I’m describing a historically accurate portrait of the US at the turn of the 20th century.
So, what happened next?
Well, if you’ve watched the Netflix Documentary Join or Die, based on the work of Dr. Robert Putnam, you know the spoiler. We pulled ourselves away from the Gilded Age “I” society and created a “we” society with, among so many other things, the massive proliferation of societies, associations, clubs, and organizations of the 1910s and 1920s. And many of the organizations formed during this time focused on youth, with moral leanings, skill and character development, and relationship building at their core, all mixed with a very important ingredient of fun and joy.
The YMCAs, the Boys and Girls Clubs, Big Brothers Big Sisters… and there we were, right in the middle of it— 1912.
And what happened? Well, for the decades that followed, we became a country of joiners. And joiners make democracy happen. Joiners volunteer, donate, and create. Joiners know their neighbors and care across differences.
For many reasons, this upswing of joining turned downward in the 1960s… and we are still in that freefall. Which is why the quotes above sound so glaringly familiar.
In some ways, this data comes as a relief. There isn’t some deficit in Girl Scouts, or GSSNE, that has contributed to the massive loss of membership over the last 40 years. It is part of a bigger societal shift.
We are all here because…we are joiners! And we believe in the power of joining a sisterhood. We know the tangibles like skill-building and entrepreneurism…but we feel the intangibles, the connections, how this work sometimes feels like it is serving something higher, something more profound than any badge. Dr Putnam says that we will have a better democracy by having people be more connected to each other. And I can’t agree more.
And honestly, now more than ever. Our girls need this.
At last year’s Annual Meeting, I announced our work in partnership with other girl-serving organizations to create the first-ever Rhode Island Girls Report. Our goal is to showcase the realities girls face in our region to drive a data-driven coalition for action to improve support and overall conditions for girls. I’ve written of this work before, and the findings are worth repeating:
- Rates of physical and sexual dating violence are growing, with 17.7% of girls reporting firsthand experience.
- Girls' rates of school absence are 1.5 to 1.7 times higher than boys. A lot of this discrepancy has been linked to monthly menstruation and access to affordable period care.
- While 64% of 11th-grade girls reported having a strong adult they could talk to, middle school girls are two times more likely than boys to feel prolonged sadness, plan, and attempt suicide.
- Over 18% of our state’s girls live below the poverty line, and almost 23% have experienced at least one marker of childhood trauma (abuse, neglect, household dysfunction)
In The Anxious Generation, author Jonathan Haidt warns of the trends of social media on developing brains, especially those of our girls. Derek Thompson’s Anti-Social Society article calls this the “frictionless acquisition of dopamine”, a shallow desire for convenience rather than our deeper need for connection and meaning. This work matches the data in the Girls Report, and what we are seeing across our Council—the heads down, addictive need for instant gratification, to be liked, in a frenzied, baseless 24/7 cycle that seems to never shut off.
Girl Scouts, we are an antidote.
In 2023, I talked about getting our Council house in order so we are ready to take on these challenges.
Last year, I spoke of the importance for us to question our orthodoxies, reset for the future, and invest in our people.
This year, we focused on preparing ourselves for a new national strategy—from brand positioning in the crowded youth serving market, to a value proposition, one that resonates with today’s families.
So when we talk about needing a value proposition, what better than an organization that can get our kids outside, combat loneliness and socialization issues, all while regrowing our democracy? Supporting youth to be “life ready— for today and tomorrow.”
I can’t tell you how excited I am about attending the 2026 National Council Sessions with our National Delegates. Nothing feels more life-ready than participating in what is truly a shining example of democracy. For the first time in our Council’s history, the majority of our National Delegates are young people, ready and willing to carry the torch for our Movement— their Movement. Payton, Emilee, Sophia, Ella— I am so excited to serve alongside you and learn from your insights and expertise. You are brilliant, and you are the present and future of our GSSNE.
So here’s what we’ve been up to, and what to look forward to in the year to come:
A reinvestment in our properties, one of our greatest assets, our special sauce that separates us from becoming a mere hobby.
- At Headquarters, we’ve built an outdoor classroom and invited nonprofits to use our downstairs Leadership Center free of charge. In the past year alone, thousands have plugged our address into their GPS and inquired about our work.
- At Hoffman, we kicked off this reinvestment last year as we prepared for GLAMP, painting and remodeling cabin by cabin, building by building, making our spaces more inviting for Girl Scouts and non-Girl Scouts alike
- Nowhere is this transformation more exciting than with the reenvisioning of Camp Rocky Farm, inspired by the master visioning process many of you participated in a few years ago. I cannot wait to share our site plan with you, and our plan for Rocky Farm to serve as a bridge, a community builder, a place to preserve childhood and joy, a home to expand our Mariner program, a gem for our Council and Movement.
At this time, I would like to remember an important person in the history of our Council’s commitment to camps and youth spaces. Last month saw the passing of Ernie Little, past property director for GSSNE. Let’s take a moment to remember Ernie for his service.
This year, GSSNE was highlighted as one of 20 councils to show membership growth, with this growth happening in our community partnership work. Additionally, we are seeing growth in our overall retention, in no small part due to the work of our diligent membership team and our high-quality programs.
We can’t do this alone. We need to be creative and forge new partnerships, sometimes in the most unlikely of places. We recently honored two of our new community partners with the GSSNE Special Supporter Award.
Our first award went to Margeaux Andrade and the team at Massage Envy. We thank them for believing in our volunteers and working with us to create a series of incentives for our adult members (more info to come soon!).
Our second award went to Alex Collazzo and his team at the Jefferson Speakeasy. It’s not every day that a gorgeous cocktail bar with even more gorgeous cocktails steps up to support a Movement like ours— we are thankful for the many ways their team has adopted our work and cause.
Our national Movement strategy is focused on the goal that more girls and families choose Girl Scouts as the place to learn, grow, and connect, envisioning a world in which girls are confident, understand their worth, and have the skills to thrive.
We will get there locally by ensuring that we, GSSNE, are a relevant and sustained organization that has removed systemic barriers to participation so all feel central to the Movement, where we are the most relevant, engaging, and inclusive youth development program around. One where we have designed and expanded ways to experience Girl Scouting. Where others see and know our worth and value. And one where we are financially stable with sustainable resources and resource generation.
We have work to do.
Nothing matters if our margin of error, our inconsistencies of implementation continue. Sanitized activities that don’t allow space for girls to have productive struggle and try hard things. Adult-centered behaviors in an emphatically youth-led organization. Examples of exclusivity that do not include “all”.
Girl Scouts should only be defined by the experience of our youth.
To me, their joy is my greatest measure of success.
On behalf of the entire GSSNE staff, thank you all for playing a vital role in this lifesaving work. It’s my honor to serve the Girl Scouts.
