Progress 09/01/11 to 08/31/16

Outputs
Target Audience:The Challenge and Change program is providing girls (ages 12-17) who live in rural communities with the leadership experience that will help them overcome the many obstacles to personal achievement created by their high-risk rural circumstances. GSUSA's Challenge and Change Rural Youth Development program served youth in California, Georgia, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia in rural communities with high-risk factors ineconomic, health, education and crime; and where community assets are minimal. Based on the Rural Youth Grantee Youth-End Accomplishment Reports Community Description (2010 Census) councils delivered programs in rural: 1) Orosi, a town of 8,770 in the heart ofCalifornia'sSan Joaquin Valley, 87% of the population identify themselves as Hispanic or Latino of which most are migrant workers. 82% of the population does not speak English, and 81% of adults 25 and older have less than a ninth-grade education. With the agricultural job market unstable, 35.1% of the population lives below the poverty level and the unemployment rate is 24.6%. Their nearest urban centers are 12 miles away in Dinuba and homes to major agricultural employers. 2) Lyons a small community in southeastGeorgia, 55.3% of the population graduated from high school, and 9.3% have completed a Bachelor's degree. 30.9% of families with children under 18 live below the poverty line, and 79% of the children qualify for free or reduced lunch. 57.5% of African-American families and 27.3% of Hispanic families are living below the poverty line. Hispanic families are primarily agricultural workers, living in crowded conditions in trailer communities. 3) Hempstead,Florida, characterized as the seventh poorest city in the state with 24% of families living below the poverty level and rated as one of the most dangerous cities in Florida. 4) Charles City, in north-centralIowapopulation 7,652,has declined since the 1950's. Single parent household comprises of 49.6% and the nearest metropolitan area is Mason City, Iowa, 36 miles from Charles City. 5) Pontoon Beach,Illinoispopulation of 5,757 in the struggling Granite City School District, 28% of all families with children under the age of 18 live in poverty, and a staggering 47% of families have single heads of household. Increase use of prescription and over-the-counter drugs by the local law enforcement by youth in the community and emerging trend of bullying as reported by middle school students that completed the 2012 Pontoon Beach Illinois Youth Survey needs assessments. 6) St. Clair, a city in Franklin County,Missouri,whose unemployment rate is high, 7.8% compared to 7.1% unemployment in the state of Missouri. Crime is another risk cause, 55% of St. Clair youth reported that it would be easy to get access to drugs and alcohol and 44% have friends who use drugs. 7) Ada in Hardin County in northwestOhio, the population recorded at just than 6,000 and21% of the resident's live below the poverty line. In Hardin County, 22.3% of adult residents smoke cigarettes, 35.5% are overweight and 27.8% are obese and gang-related activities at middle schools run rampant. 8) Brockway,PAnear the Alleghany National Forest, population 2,067, 5.7% of families and 9.9% of residents over the age of 65 live below the poverty line. 9) Martinsville, one of the poorest counties in the state ofVirginia, the unemployment rate is 9.9% and 35.4% of children age 0-17 live in poverty with high teen pregnancy rate. The program serves as a catalyst for change in rural communities, building community capitals (human, cultural, social and political) improving the lives of girls. Girls that participated in Challenge and Change are more likely to stay in school, seek out economic self-sufficiency opportunities, and avoid high-risk behaviors. The program is executed over the full-course of a full school year, with activities taking place in school and at Girl Scout facilities. The model combines traditional, successful Girl Scout activities with social entrepreneurship (with the informal Challenge and Change Curriculum as a guide). This includes intensive training (a minimum of 100 hours) in the core leadership competencies (decision-making, goal-setting, problem-solving, civic responsibility, team building, and mentoring ability) development. 2. Providing opportunities for rural girls to assess the needs of their rural communities. 3. Providing opportunities for rural girls toidentify, plan and lead projects to solve needs in their communities. 4. Recruitment and training of adult volunteers to support the program. 5. Development of partnerships with a variety of local organizations tofacilitateproject implementation and support The scope of this project facilitates experiences that: A) Provide constructive relationships between girls and adults and girls and peers.B) Provide an array of youth development opportunities for girls to build competencies in areas that meet the four basic human needs of: Belong, Mastery, Independence and Generosity. C) Provide access to opportunities for girls to develop assets in the physical, intellectual, psychological, emotion, and/or social domains. D) Engage girls as partners in their own development and their communities. E) Have sufficient scope, breath, duration, frequency and intensity of engagement of girls to reach long-term positive outcomes. Our mission is "to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place." Challenge and Change is advancing our mission and our core values; a commitment to personal development, concern for the well-being of the greater community, an appreciation of diversity, and a commitment to building the leaders of tomorrow. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Outputs: Throughout the life of the grant, awarded councils received training on the philosophy and effective implementation approach of the Rural Youth Development. GSUSA also provides an array of interactive learning opportunities to bring councils up-to-date on the latest membership, volunteerism and program recruitment strategies in which councils can opt to take part. In general, technical assistance is provided for grantees via site visits, email communications, webinars and teleconferences. Outputs completed during this implementation period are but not limited to the following:thirty-four individual technical support to 9 awarded councils via teleconferencing on federal reporting, accomplishments and output measures reports and sustainability strategies. Introduction to the research strategy and protocols for successful projects for USDA participants (girls, volunteers, Troop Leaders and council staff) for the Rural Youth Development Promising Practice report. Three on-site technical assistance for councils in Florida and Virginia. A 3-day sub grantee training co-led by the GSUSA/SPEC Associates/USDA Challenge and Change Leadership Team on the Rural Youth Development grant, peer-to-peer sharing and implementation of the Youth Participatory Evaluation where a total of 34 council representatives from eleven funded councils attended. It is important to note, that of the existing 9-councils highlighted in this report, attended the training in 2013. Girl Scouts Journey's series, PEARL (Intranet) designed to help council staff across the country to communicate, access resources for membership growth capacity building; research-based youth development publications and sharing of promising practices; and the GSUSA website with "Challenge and Change" resources available to all 112 Girl Scouts councils. PARTICIPANTS: The coreGSUSAgrant management team responsible for the program implementation of the grant during the closeout period is composedof:EstherValentín-Lopez, Project Manager andRafaelaMinier, Senior Grant Accountant. Additional staffing support fromGSUSAincludes the Interim Chief of Partnerships, Chief Financial Officer, FINANCE-Administration, Partnership Team Lead, and Research Generalist. Council staff primarily consists of a Program Manager who works on a part-time basis (one day/or less per week) to deliver on the grant. The program manager is generally from the program/membership/volunteerism (MVP) line staff and is usually supported by their immediate supervisor, the VP/Director of Membership or Program, and the council's finance team representing about 25% of the grant. For the last grant implementation period,GSUSAincreased grant amounts for more staff for oversight to make sure councils had the resources to assign experienced staff to the grant. Councils worked closely with volunteers and girls as the projects transitioned to closeout and sustainability. A number of volunteers and community partners work directly with girls to support them as they develop, carry out and seek resources to sustain their projects.A total of144Partner Organizationsand collaborators are identified by councils in this reporting period, they include but are not limitedto: Associations Boys and Girls Club Community based-organizations Chamber of Commerce 4-H Faith based organizations FFA Chapters Faith based communities Girl Scouts Troops Hospitals Government Offices Medical Clinics Media Outlets Memorial Parks Parks and Recreation Departments School Districts National Conservation Training Centers - US Fish and Wildlife Services How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The promising practice case study will be forward to all council grantees, become available on our PEARL (Intranet) for all 112 council staff and lead volunteers, feature in our Executive Essentials on-line newsletter for council CEOsand their senior leadership staff, highlighted in our Girl Experience Newsletter for councils interested in delivering the Challenge and Change program in rural communities. Posted on GSUSA website for external stakeholders to download a copy, and distributed to Algorhythm, 4-H, 4AA, National Leader, 4-H and professionals in the youth development field. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Since this report was completed, the following updates have been reported: 9 Girl Scouts were awarded and 22 Rural Youth Development community service programs have been implemented with an average range of six months to two years. 871girls were served, 57 Challenge and Change leaders were identified and 360 adult volunteers supported girls in planning, implementing and sustaining their service projects. Since the Rural Youth Development program targets all youth inthe funded communities, it is important to note that 9% (of the overall participants(981)served were boys.Of the total youth served,326were new to the projects,448youth engaged intensively (as part of the core leadership team) and533youth were less intensively (youth in theprogram but not part of the core leadership team) engaged. With the Treasury Authorization for USDA project expiring on August 31, 2016, Girl Scouts councils focused their girl-led community service project efforts on three criteria: 1) sustainability leading to continual community impact regardless of future changes in funding, 2) recruitment strategies in reaching and serving youth in rural communities and 3) replicable, such that other councils canmeetsimilar results. A combined total of $301,441 was leveraged by the awarded councils and active projects in community contributions to the Challenge and Change program. These donations included: $22,134 in cash, grants, and other donations; the value of $154,966 for building and project space; $14,332in transportation; $43,071 for supplies; $5,485 in food; and $29,403 in other contributions and value of staff time: $32,050. In addition, collectively, 30,078 council communities' members are targeted to benefit the projects. During the grant cycle councils community partnerships included: 63 new partnerships and 81 continuing partnerships; 20 government partnerships and 82 non-government partnerships 01 partnership with a local 4-H office and 01 with local Futures of America; and 09 partnerships with GS troops. This data was collected from the Annual Year-end Output Measures and Community Engagement Projects federal reporting forms councils completed. GSUSA worked with the National Program Leader, 4-H to spend down the funding accruals. A budget modification and proposed spending plan for PY2011 and PY2013 which included funds for a Promising Practice study for Girl Scouts councils and the broader youth serving organizations was approved by NIFA/USDA. GSUSA contracted Dr. Kim Sabo, CEO Algorhythm to gather and synthesize learnings across councils in this current funding cycle. The report collected and reviewed all archival documentation, including a meta-analysis of three Challenge and Change evaluations, councils reports from 2005-2015, and conducted 27 interviews with various stakeholders (youth, adults, Council Leaders, Troop Leaders and experts in the field ) to explore the contextual variables surrounding a successful, sustainable girl-led community action. The report will be forward to all council grantees, become available on our PEARL (Intranet) for all 112 council staff and lead volunteers, feature in our Executive Essentials on-line newsletter for council CEOsand their senior leadership staff, and posted on GSUSA website for external stakeholders.

Publications

Progress 09/01/11 to 08/31/12

Outputs
OUTPUTS: The outputs completed during this implementation include but are not limited to the following: Pre-RFP teleconference, 4 series webinar on the "Introduction to the Youth Participatory Evaluation Toolkit", webinar- Federal Reporting requirements, monthly "seek & share" council conversations with key staff to discuss highlights & challenges of the Challenge & Change grant implementation, individual council technical support & assistance, Challenge & Change curriculum (adult & girl guide, journal, community Challenge Plan book), GS Journey's series, PEARL (Intranet), and the GSUSA website with "Challenge & Change" resources. PARTICIPANTS: The core GSUSA grant management team is comprised of: Senior Director, Gladys Padro-Soler, Project Manager, Carol Porter and Program Coordinator, Rochana Rapkins, and they are responsible for ensuring that this national program is implemented according to plan. Additional staffing support from GSUSA includes the Director of Grants Accounting, and the VP, Girl Scouts Research Institute. Three National Operational Volunteers (NOVs) joined the program to provide direct support to councils in areas related to volunteer recruitment development and support; volunteer program delivery, and girl Silver Awards. The NOVs will be led by a Girl Scout volunteer who is a successful CEO and entrepreneur/owner of a construction company, who has been part of the GSUSA training team for many years. Additional NOV supports will come from the ranks of those who have been directors of council membership, program, and volunteerism teams. Council staff primarily consists of a Program Manager who works on a part time basis (one day/or less per week) on the implementation of the grant. The Program Manager is generally from the program/membership line staff and is supported by their immediate supervisor, usually the VP/Director of Membership or Program, and the council's finance team. A number of volunteers and community partners work directly with girls and support them as they develop, implement, and seek resources to sustain their projects. Through Year 9, program staff has represented approximately 25% of the grant however; beginning in Year 10, GSUSA is proposing increasing grant amounts to allow for additional staff time for oversight of the grant and to ensure the councils have the resources to assign experienced staff to the grant. Partner Organizations, collaborators and contacts include but are not limited to (depending on council): State agencied, Humane Society, 4H, School Districts,Township Committees, Councils and Managers, Army Core of Engineers, Parks & Recreation Departments, Home Building Supply Businesses, Non-profits, School Districts,Libraries, local SPCA,Veterinarians,culinary arts schools, senior citizen centers, Head Start programs,and various community stakeholders. TARGET AUDIENCES: The goal of Challenge and Change is to engage girls (ages 12-17) who live in rural communities in social entrepreneurship training and leadership experiences in their rural communities, to equip them with the leadership skills and developmental assets that will improve their lives and their communities. Social entrepreneurship is the process of drawing on business practices to recognize and pursue opportunities to create social value. Challenge and Change is providing rural girls with the leadership experiences that will help them overcome the many obstacles to personal achievement created by their desperate rural circumstances. The program is serving as a catalyst for change in rural communities, building community capitals (human, cultural, social and political) that are improving the lives of girls. Girls that have participated in Challenge and Change are more likely to stay in school, seek out economic self-sufficiency opportunities, and avoid high-risk behaviors. The program is implemented over the course of a full school year, with activities taking place in school and at Girl Scout facilities. The model combines traditional, successful Girl Scout activities with social entrepreneurship strategies designed specifically for rural girls. Core program elements include: 1. Training of rural girls in social entrepreneurship (with the informal Challenge and Change Curriculum as a guide). This includes intensive training (a minimum of 100 hours) in the development of core leadership competencies (decision-making, goal-setting, problem-solving, civic responsibility, team-building, mentoring ability). 2. Providing opportunities for rural girls to assess the needs of their rural communities. 3. Providing opportunities for rural girls to identify, plan and lead projects to solve needs in their communities. 4. Recruitment and training of adult volunteers to support the program. 5. Development of partnerships with a variety of local organizations to facilitate project implementation and support. The scope of this project facilitates experiences that: 1. Provide constructive relationships between girls and adults and girls and peers. 2. Provide an array of youth development opportunities for girls to build competencies in areas that meet the four basic human needs of: Belonging, Mastery, Independence and Generosity. 3. Provide access to opportunities for girls to develop assets in the physical, intellectual, psychological, emotional, and/or social domains. 4. Engage girls as partners in their own development and their communities. 5. Have sufficient scope, breath, duration, frequency and intensity of engagement of girls to reach long-term positive outcomes. Our mission is "to build girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place." Challenge and Change is advancing our mission and our core values: a commitment to personal development, concern for the well-being of the greater community, an appreciation of diversity, and a commitment to building the leaders of tomorrow. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: GSUSA is currently working with the USDA NIFA Program Leader to spend the funding accruals. We recently submitted a budget modification and proposed spending plan for review and approval.

Impacts
Since this report was completed,the following updates have been reported: 14 Girl Scout councils were awarded, 2,095 girls were served, 546 Challenge & Change leaders were identified and 589 adult volunteers supported girls in plannning, implementing and sustaining their service projects.This data was collected from the annual Output Measures and Community Engagement federal reporting forms that councils completed. GSUSA contracts with SPEC Associates to do our Evaluation Plan which collects outcomes for youth, adults and stakeholders as expressed in the Logic Model. The Evaluation Plan for FY2010 was submitted during the summer of 2011, and GSUSA did not receive approval to proceed, so no evaluation was contracted for the 2011 program year.

Publications

• No publications reported this period