PLATINUM2022

GIRL SCOUTS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Alameda, CA   |  www.gsnorcal.org

Mission

Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. Open to all girls ages 5 to 17, Girl Scouts offers a time-tested, research-backed leadership development program that helps girls take the lead--in their own lives and in the world. Our regional council, Girl Scouts of Northern California (GSNorCal), is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit chartered by Girl Scouts of the USA. We are one of the largest councils in the nation, serving more than 34,000 girls and 26,000 adult members across 19 Northern California counties. At GSNorCal, we are committed to providing a safe space for girls, where everyone is welcome, and where all girls and families belong.

Ruling year info

1964

CEO

Ms. Marina H. Park

Main address

1650 Harbor Bay Parkway, Suite 100

Alameda, CA 94502 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

94-1551410

NTEE code info

Girl Scouts (O42)

Environmental Education and Outdoor Survival Programs (C60)

Community Improvement, Capacity Building N.E.C. (S99)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

Sign in or create an account to view Form(s) 990 for 2020, 2019 and 2018.
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Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

In Girl Scouts, we believe that every girl deserves a chance to reach her full potential: to have her eyes opened to possibilities for college and careers, to make loving and supportive friends, to learn from caring female mentors, and to chart her own course to achieve her goals. Open to all girls ages 5 to 17, Girl Scouts takes the potential of girls, combines it with robust skill-building activities and an inclusive, all-girl environment, and adds caring adult mentors and strong female role models. The result is a safe space where girls can experience sisterhood, develop a range of skills, take on leadership roles, and empower themselves to make a difference by identifying and solving problems in the community. For over 100 years, Girl Scouts has offered girls the skills and leadership opportunities they need to practice a lifetime of leadership, adventure, and success.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

The Girl Scout Leadership Experience

Our program centers on what we call the Girl Scout Leadership Experience (GSLE)—a collection of engaging, challenging, and fun activities like earning badges, selling cookies, exploring science, getting outdoors, and doing community service projects. Girl Scouts offers girls opportunities to explore new interests, pursue their passions, and build competence in four skill areas: STEM, the outdoors, life skills, and entrepreneurship.
Whether they participate through volunteer-led troops, camps, or our innovative, staff-led programs, Girl Scouts is proven to help girls thrive in five key ways as they:
• Develop a strong sense of self.
• Seek challenges and learn from setbacks.
• Display positive values.
• Form and maintain healthy relationships.
• Identify and solve problems in the community.
Importantly, researchers at the Girl Scout Research Institute have concluded that all Girl Scouts are equally likely to develop the five GSLE outcomes, regardless of social class, zip code, race/ethnicity, or degree of engagement in other extracurricular activities.
We serve members across 19 counties in Northern California: Alameda, Butte, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Mateo, Shasta, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Tehama, and Trinity.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Women and girls

Research shows that girls are keenly interested in STEM and excel at it. Yet, for a variety of reasons, girls often don’t pursue STEM—starting as early as elementary school. But Girl Scouts can change that! We introduce Girl Scouts of every age to science, technology, engineering, and math to help them see how they can improve the world—whether they’re discovering how a car’s engine runs, learning to manage finances, or caring for animals. Our STEM programs take place inside our troop and camp programs—so that girls gain the Girl Scout leadership outcomes while they build interest, confidence, and competence in STEM and an understanding of the importance of STEM to people and society—a combination that is essential for advancing more women to leadership positions within STEM fields.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Women and girls

Exploring the great outdoors is a classic part of the Girl Scout experience. With camp properties and program centers throughout Northern California, GSNorCal is ready to get girls outdoors at our council-run resident summer camps and local, volunteer-run day and overnight camps. We also offer outdoor adventure through travel and adventure programs organized by GSNorCal and GSUSA, troop camping and high adventure trips, and interest groups that provide girls with opportunities to take a deep dive into outdoor adventure. Learn more about our summer camp program at https://camp.gsnorcal.org.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Women and girls

At GSNorCal girls can explore their interest in becoming entrepreneurs and using their skills to make an impact on the world. The Girl Scout Cookie Program is the largest girl-led financial literacy program in the country, introducing girls to important business skills, as well as to philanthropy as they use their cookie earnings to do amazing things in their communities and beyond.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Women and girls

We are committed to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment.
Diversity– We focus on making sure girls of all backgrounds, races, ethnicities, orientations, gender expressions, and abilities feel that they are welcome in Girl Scouts.
Equity- Our commitment to equity includes multiple programs intended to expand opportunities for troop and camp experiences for girls living in low-income communities by removing barriers to participation. See more about financial aid available at GSNorCal, including our Opportunity Fund supporting girls living in low-income communities or who have been affected by disaster, at https://www.gsnorcal.org/en/join-girl-scouts/financial-aid.html
Inclusion- With insight from our BIPOC Task Group we adopted a new Volunteer Policy that focuses on building welcoming communities by addressing issues around racism and microaggressions, strengthening our knowledge about preventing bullying, supporting our LGBTQ+ members, and reducing instances where girls, families, and volunteers are made to feel othered.
Belonging- Sisterhood, connection, and belonging—that’s what Girl Scouts does, every day.
Learn more about our DEIB journey at www.gsnorcal.org/en/our-council/news/2020/ceo-update-june2.html.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Women and girls

Where we work

Awards

STEM Innovation Award 2016

Silicon Valley Education Foundation

Videos

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of Gold Awards earned annually by GSNorCal Girl Scouts

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Women and girls, Children and youth

Related Program

The Girl Scout Leadership Experience

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Context Notes

We track the number of Girl Scouts in our council who earn their Gold Award.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

With time-honored, data-backed insight into the needs and interests of girls, Girl Scouts of the USA empowers 1.7 million girls to lead, learn, and thrive. Whether our girls are camping with newfound survival and wilderness skills, building robots, learning entrepreneurship, taking action to support their communities, creating art, or brushing up on cyber-security—we have a badge for that. But beyond the badges and awards, the true heart of Girl Scouts is raising confident, independent, and successful young women in an environment of inclusion, safety, fun, and civic action.

Four areas form the foundation for our program: STEM, outdoors, life skills, and entrepreneurship. We create leadership experiences through volunteer-led troops, staff-led programs, and camp and outdoor programs that are relevant to today’s girls. Our four program areas create a holistic leadership program that is girl-led, and where girls can learn-by-doing in a cooperative environment. This combination of effective programming, supportive adults, and girl-focused environments leads to powerful outcomes for girls.
As they participate in Girl Scouts, girls develop a strong sense of self, positive values, and healthy relationships, and are encouraged to be challenge seekers and community problem solvers. Girl-led, expert-approved, and volunteer-supported, Girl Scouts helps girls discover their strengths and change the world.

Backed by over 100 years of experience, Girl Scouts fuels the female leadership pipeline. Data shows that Girl Scout alums have higher incomes, more rewarding careers, and are more active in their communities than their peers. Why? Our all-girl, girl-led environment creates a space where girls are free to explore their passions, take bold risks, create solutions to emerging problems, and be proud of their strengths.
Our accomplished alums are proof that Girl Scouts works. From astronaut Jan Davis and award-winning entertainer Queen Latifah, to journalist Katie Couric and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta—Girl Scout alums rise to the top of all fields!

Disrupted routines and isolation due to school closures and social distancing, reckoning with racial injustice, financial hardship—it’s been a rough year. Notwithstanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, our recent accomplishments include:
• We are building the next generation of STEM professionals. Last year GSNorCal girls earned over 23,000 STEM badges. Over 5,000 girls participated in STEM events and series, including more than 200 girls who competed on GSNorCal robotics teams.
• We open doors to entrepreneurship. Participating in the largest girl-led financial literacy program in the country, GSNorCal girls sold over 4.5 million boxes of cookies.
• Our programs kept girls active and engaged, even while confined to home by the pandemic. Throughout the year, girls earned a total of 84,786 badges and awards.
• We open doors to Girl Scouting. GSNorCal distributed $319,366 in financial aid and our staff-led programs gave more than 1,400 girls the opportunity to experience all Girl Scouts has to offer.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • Who are the people you serve with your mission?

    Girl Scouts is for every girl! In 2020-21 we served a diverse mix of 24,382 girls aged 5-17 and 26,544 adult members from urban, suburban, rural and coastal communities throughout our 19-county service area from Gilroy up the coast to the Oregon border and east into the Sierras.

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals

  • What significant change resulted from feedback?

    In response to survey feedback from our troop leaders, we created the Girl Scout Playbook – an on-line resource and guide that makes it easy to plan an entire year of Girl Scout troop experiences. The Playbook: • Pulls together key resources and best advice into one place, organized by Girl Scout program area and grade level. • Helps all troop leaders, both new and experienced, for all program grade levels with specific ideas for activities and guidance on administrative requirements. • Provides practical tools to plan and organize troop activities, including a Girl Scout Planner, which can be downloaded and used to track a troops’ progress through the year. • Now includes resources for virtual and hybrid activities. • Is accessible across every device and browser—no password required.

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time

Financials

GIRL SCOUTS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

GIRL SCOUTS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Board of directors
as of 03/04/2022
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Ellen Richey

Retired, Vice Chairman Risk and Public Policy / Visa, Inc.

Term: 2007 - 2022

Leslie Miller

Finance Professional, Owner / Miller Pacific Financial Advisors LLC

Tina Amber

Retired, Regional Operations Manager / Macy’s

Suzanne Bell

Partner / Covington & Burling LLP

Ellen Bermingham

Retired, Vice President, Marketing / Fastly Inc.

Karen Derr Gilbert

Partner / FTV Capital

Rajiv Dholakia

Former Vice President Products & Business Development / Nok Nok Labs

Zain Oke, CPA

Vice President, Organizational Readiness & Real Estate / AAA Northern California, Nevada and Utah

Neeracha Taychakhoonavudh

EVP of Global Success & Strategy / Salesforce

Sandra Shirai

Retired, Vice Chairman of the Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) / Deloitte

Ginger Bryant

Partner, CFO and COO / Sares Regis Group of Northern California

Mary B. Cranston

Retired, Senior Partner / Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Peg McAllister

Senior Vice President, San Francisco Bay Area Region / Lee Hecht Harrison

Tracy Teale, CPA

Audit Stockholder and Head of the San Francisco Office / RiNA Corporation

Jana L. Barsten

Partner, Global Audit Sector Leader / KPMG LLP-Silicon Valley

Lisa Violet

Chief Auditor / Varo Money, Inc.

Charmaine Clay

Retired, Senior Vice President / Wells Fargo & Company

Sarahi Espinoza Salamanca

Founder & CEO / Dreamers Roadmap

Eunice Kim

General Counsel SOC / Telemed, Inc.

Valerie Lewis

Former Assistant Vice President & Assistant Secretary / The Albertsons Companies, Inc.

Amy Love

Chief Marketing Officer / Pavilion Data

Sonya Simril

Principal / Saint Leo the Great School

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 3/2/2022
info Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options.

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

No data

Disability

No data

Equity strategies

Last updated: 07/21/2021

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.