On February 15, Girl Scouts across Colorado gathered in front of their screens, eager to see what the female zookeepers from Denver Zoo had to say about their profession. The Girl Scouts oohed and aahed and blurted out questions while exotic animals flashed across the screen and the presenters recounted stories about their experiences in zookeeping.
The Denver Zoo zookeepers were one of many female professionals organized to talk to young Girls Scouts as part of the Inspiring Futures series.
The Inspiring Futures series is an initiative by Girl Scouts of Colorado to expose girls to career possibilities other than those gender stereotypes often deem appropriate for women. Women leaders in professions such as police detectives, race car mechanics, toy designers, paleontologists, welders, and many more were invited to speak with the future professionals, according to a Girl Scouts press release.
The inspiration for Inspiring Futures, according to Girl Scouts CEO Leanna Clark, came during the pandemic when Girl Scouts were forced to meet virtually. Clark teamed up with CollegeInvest, Colorado’s not-for-profit higher education savings resource, and designed and facilitated Inspiring Futures. The program took off in January.
The goal for Inspiring Futures made it a perfect candidate for financial support from CollegeInvest, which strives to inspire young people to receive a post high school credential of some kind, said CollegeInvest CEO Angela Baier.
In addition to sponsoring the Inspiring Futures program, CollegeInvest is involved in the development of another program in collaboration with Girl Scouts, Future Me, which will offer Girl Scouts opportunities to earn individual funding from CollegeInvest toward their future education, according to Baier.
“To partner with a statewide organization like Girl Scouts that fit our mission perfectly is great,” Baier said, “and, on a personal level, being a female CEO in the finance industry, I have a passion for helping inspire girls to do things bigger and greater than they may have thought of.”
For Girl Scout Junior Hanna Dribinski, the Inspiring Futures last week furthered her inspiration to become a zookeeper, she said.
“I learned about different animals and how to take care of them,” Dribinski said after the session. “What stood out to me was when the people from the zoo told us how to become zookeepers. I would love to have a student job at the zoo when I am older. I can research biology, animal conservation, especially snow leopards and other wildcats, and study hard in school to go to college.”
Positive feedback from Girl Scouts like Dribinski is part of what makes Inspiring Futures a great success, according to Clark. Although it was only supposed to be a temporary solution to allow Girl Scouts to operate during the pandemic, the virtual program can reach all 15,000 Girl Scouts across the state of Colorado, Clark said, and nearly 500 Girl Scouts have registered for sessions so far.
The Inspiring Futures program is expected to run through the end of 2022, and Clark hopes it will continue beyond into the future. “There’s no shortage of amazing women in this community,” Clark added, “who work in the non-traditional professions Girl Scouts is trying to highlight through Inspiring Futures.”
“There’s an old saying, ‘you can’t be it if you haven’t seen it,’” Baier said. “So I really love the idea of inspiring these girls to think big and think about careers and life paths that they maybe never would have without this program.”
