ABOUT BRENNA WEST:
Brenna West is the Chief Communications Officer at Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan, where she leads marketing, customer service, and the contact center with a strategic mind and a storyteller’s heart. A lifelong Girl Scout and a passionate youth development advocate, Brenna has spent the last eight years crafting the messages that help girls discover their confidence, courage, and power to create change.
Her professional superpower lies in helping organizations speak with clarity and conviction — especially when the message is girls can do anything. Outside of work, she serves on the boards of PEAK (a professional women’s network), Great Expectations Networking, volunteers with her sorority Tri Sigma, and coaches future world-changers with Girls on the Run.
She believes in the magic of self-assurance, the power of community, and the kind of leadership that starts young and lasts a lifetime — ideally with snacks and a solid playlist.
RESOURCES:
Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan (GSHOM)
TRANSCRIPTION:
David Fair: This is 89.1 WEMU, and welcome to this week's edition of Washtenaw United. It is our weekly exploration of equity and opportunity in our community. I'm David Fair, and today we want to explore lifting our girls and young women to confidence, self-determination, and with the tools to achieve and succeed. In this particular case, we're going to do so through the lens of scouting. Our guest today is Brenna West, and Brenna is the Chief Communications Officer at Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan. Thank you so much for making time for us today, Brenna! I appreciate it!
Brenna West: Thank you! Thank you for having me!
David Fair: By any chance, were you a Girl Scout as a youngster?
Brenna West: I sure was! I was a Girl Scout for about ten years when I was growing up. And now, I get to be a professional Girl Scout.
David Fair: Well, what did you get out of that scouting experience that ultimately landed you in a career?
Brenna West: Girl Scouts was really the first place where I learned that I had the ability to be a leader and that I had the skills and I had opportunities to grow those skills and really lean into that leadership. So, it's the first where adults trusted us as girls to take the lead. And so, that kind of space was so empowering and so meaningful to me that, growing up, I was always trying to kind of pay it forward by empowering the generation behind me. So, it's been really fun to be on the professional side and giving girls that same opportunity that changed my life.
David Fair: Well, the Girl Scouts' motto is "Be prepared." But one of the empowering phrases I hear frequently is, "Girls can do anything." How did the individual troops tie all of that together in a way that girls most benefit from?
Brenna West: So, one of our key tenants is that everything we do is girl-led. And so, that means that all Girl Scouts, from our littlest leaders, who are our five-year-old daisy Girl Scouts, all the way up through our 12th grade ambassadors, we give them the opportunity to lead. We allow them to make decisions about their experience and what they want it to look like and what kind of issues in their community they might want to solve. Girl Scouts is really one of the only places that we believe that girls can do anything. You just have to give them the chance. You just to give the opportunity. And they'll blow you away every time. So, we give that leadership right away to our girls, so they get to practice those skills.
David Fair: One of the most effective ways to be prepared is to bring real world issues into scouting and help the girls navigate through them. Now at five, it might be a little young, but certainly in the older years. When it comes to things like gender identity and inclusivity, how is the Girl Scouts approaching the topic with its troops?
Brenna West: Great question! One thing that is, again, really important to us is that we want girls to build the confidence to understand how they feel about an issue, understand where they stand on it, and then have the courage to stand firm in that belief and identify ways that they can make an impact regarding that issue. So, one thing that we hear over and over again from girls is how important inclusivity is to them and how much they want to foster an environment that is welcoming to other kiddos who need a safe space like Girl Scouts. So, again, we really give that leadership right to the girls, and they care about creating spaces that everyone feels welcome.
David Fair: Providing that perspective, it also makes them unwelcome in certain spaces. There are some religious organizations that have put effort into trying to discourage potential Girl Scouts from joining because of it. How is the organization dealing with those efforts and again helping the girls navigate through opposition?
Brenna West: It's one thing that girls get to kind of experience and grow through that, unfortunately, is a regular part of life. You know, you're always going to face adversity. You're always going to face spaces that may not be welcoming to you. And so, how do you turn that into a learning opportunity for girls so that they understand how to get through that and how to be stronger because of it? So, one thing that is important for us to teach girls is, depending on what you believe and knowing the facts, knowing the reasoning behind that belief, build the confidence to be able to stand behind that beliefs and be strong in it. We are in the business not of teaching girls what to believe but rather teaching them how to be confident in what is important to them and what they believe.
David Fair: We're talking with Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan Chief Communications Officer Brenna West on 89.1 WEMU's Washtenaw United. Along the membership lines, it wasn't that long ago that the Boy Scouts of America changed its name to Scouting America and began accepting girls into their troops. Here in Washtenaw County and throughout Michigan, has it made a difference in the number of Girl Scouts that you're working with?
Brenna West: We are really excited that, particularly in Washtenaw County, Girl Scouts is growing. We have new troops forming every day. We're serving about 6% to 8% of girls, depending on the specific community. So, Girl Scouts is growing, and we really focus not on what other organizations are doing and what they're focusing on, but on the opportunities that we provide to girls. So, we're really excited to be in this growth cycle and expanding access to girl scouting throughout Washtenaw County.
David Fair: Would it also be fair to say that because opportunity and providing opportunity is what you strive for, that you're also glad that there is that opportunity for young girls to join the Scout America if they want to?
Brenna West: Absolutely! You know, again, girl-led is one of our tenants. And so, we want girls to have the confidence to make decisions for themselves. And so, if that is Girl Scouts, fabulous! If it's another youth serving organization that fits their needs, we're thrilled for that too! For us, it's about the outcomes for girls and for them to get what they need from activities they're involved in.
David Fair: One of the hallmarks of the Girl Scouts is the annual cookie sale. Of course, it's a fundraiser for the organization, but on a more serious note, I'm wondering about whether it's also about personal development. What do the girls get from participating and having certain expectations they have to meet?
Brenna West: I'm so glad that you asked this, because this is one of the, I think, best kept secrets about the cookie program is that it's so much more than your typical extracurricular fundraiser. The cookie program is truly a girl's first business opportunity and the first place where she gets to see what it feels like to be the CEO of a business, to be an entrepreneur. Our girls gain five critical business skills through our cookie program, including goal setting, communication, financial literacy, just to name a few of those. And they really get the opportunity to practice those skills. And, again, it's girl-led, so they get to decide the proceeds raised from their cookie program, what kind of adventures and experiences are they going to find. So, it is so much more than just a cookie.
David Fair: It is the human condition to be somewhat competitive at times, so how do you take what could potentially turn into a us versus them or a person versus person within a troop and take the competition and use it to build teamwork and move forward in that way?
Brenna West: I love that question! Usually, we see that girls in troops, they do have their individual goals, but they also set a troop goal. So, we see not so much that girls are competing with one another, but we try to instill an abundance mindset with all of our girls, so that they understand a rising tide lifts all boats. So, if one girl in the troop is crushing her goal, we often see that she will then help her Girl Scout sisters to reach her goal. So, it's really magical what happens. And again, that abundance mindset is such a big part of what we do and what we instill in girls.
David Fair: When I was a kid, scouts were teaching me how to start a campfire, use a compass in the woods, and to explore ways to be of community service in an ever-changing world of technology. Are the ways in which girls earn their badges changing and evolving too?
Brenna West: Yes, we, every single year, have brand new badge programming that rolls out, so that not only do girls get the same kind of classic Girl Scout experiences that they have always gotten, building incredible skills to keep them safe and adventurous in the outdoors, but also things like cyber security, different badges that equip girls to be leaders in the world of today.
David Fair: If a parent is listening today and is on the fence about putting their daughter in the Girl Scouts, what is your elevator pitch?
Brenna West: I would say that Girl Scouts is the place where your girl will get to thrive. She will be surrounded by other girls who are learning about who they are, trying new things, building confidence, building skill sets. And your girl, no matter how old she is, will get an opportunity to be a leader and to hone those leadership skills that she'll take into the rest of her life. The best part, though, is that girls don't know that they're building these incredible skills. They just think I am having a blast with the best friends that I've ever had. So, that is the magic of Girl Scouts, and that's what's waiting for you and for your girl. And we can't wait for you to join us!
David Fair: And you've turned it into a whole career!
Brenna West: That's right!
David Fair: That's great! Hey, thank you so much for the time in the conversation today, Brenna! I'm most grateful!
Brenna West: Thank you! I really appreciate it!
David Fair: That is Brenna West. Brenna is the Chief Communications Officer at Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan and has been our guest on Washtenaw United. For more information related to our conversation today, you can stop by our website at your convenience at WEMU.org. Washtenaw United is produced in partnership with the United Way for Southeastern Michigan, and you hear it every Monday. I'm David Fair, and this is your community NPR station, 89.1 WEMU Ypsilanti.
WEMU has partnered with the United Way for Southeastern Michigan to explore the people, organizations, and institutions creating opportunity and equity in our area. And, as part of this ongoing series, you’ll also hear from the people benefiting and growing from the investments being made in the areas of our community where there are gaps in available services. It is a community voice. It is 'Washtenaw United.'
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