Girl Scout Research Institute Contributes to a 'Kinder and Braver World'

The Girl Scout Research Institute was recently commissioned to write a paper for the Kinder and Braver World Project Research Series, out of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. It is a collaboration with the Born This Way Foundation (Lady Gaga) and supported by the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.  The subject of the paper is on the role of youth organizations and youth movements for social change.

The paper, “Youth Organizations and Positive Development: Lessons Learned from a Century of Girl Scouting” was written by Kamla Modi, Judy Schoenberg, and Kallen Tsikalas of the Girl Scout Research Institute.

“No organization can do it all alone or meet the needs of all girls. At a time when funding for youth programs is scarce, it is becoming wiser for organizations to join forces with other like-minded groups to bring services and programs to our youth,” concludes the Girl Scout Research Institute. “The potential for impact grows when youth organizations join forces with industries, non-profits, schools, and universities in a given community. Our goal in the next decade to is to further expand our partnerships so that through collaboration and knowledge sharing, we can work with other organizations to best serve girls, as well as youth, families, and communities in our country.”

A little context— On February 29, 2012, the Born This Way Foundation launched with a mission to empower youth and inspire bravery in order to make the world a kinder, braver place. The first papers in this series were developed to provide the new Foundation with grounded insights.  At the launch event ­ held at Harvard in collaboration with the Graduate School of Education, ­ Lady Gaga asked a room full of researchers to share scholarly insights in an accessible form with her, the public, and other advocates working to build a kinder, braver world ­ and GSRI's paper does exactly that!

Read the paper here.