Girl Scouts, Sigma Gamma Rho Help Girls Imagine Engineering Careers

NEW YORK — Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) has joined forces with Sigma Gamma Rho, one of the nation’s largest African American sororities, to help build awareness of career possibilities in science, technology, and engineering among girls and parents in the African American community.

Working with local Girl Scout councils around the country, Sigma Gamma Rho’s alumnae chapters have made GSUSA’s Imagine Engineering initiative, funded by the National Science Foundation, a focus of the sorority’s annual National Youth Symposium.

“Girl Scouting and Sigma Gamma Rho have the same goal: to build the nation’s future leaders by helping girls dream big and accomplish much today,” said GSUSA Chief Executive Officer Anna Maria Chávez. “We are delighted to be part of this partnership to help girls do great things in critical fields such as science, technology, engineering and math.”

“Response to Imagine Engineering has been terrific,” said Sigma Gamma Rho National President Bonita Herring. “We surveyed 250 girls who took part in the program, and more than two thirds of them said they now understood how ‘someone like me’ could become an engineer.”

“We will not only expand our efforts with this program, but we will  reach out to girls nationwide in our communities with a combination of our own healthy living program, Project Reassurance, and the Girl Scouts’ program for middle-school girls on healthy relationships and bullying,” Herring said. “Through this continued partnership, we are going to do great things together for girls.”

For more information on GSUSA’s Imagine Engineering initiative visit www.girlscouts.org/imagineengineering/.