bloomberg news and vice president of the national press club, a 12-year girl scout interco-liter. executive vice president and speaker committee member who organized the event. she participate in crosscut camp ceo -- girl scout camp ceo. she is hosting the largest gathering of crosscut that the washington monument. crosscuts rock the mall on june the ninth. she is a guest of our speaker. -- girl scouts rocked the mall on june the ninth. she is a guest of our speaker. girl scout, press secretary for leave to sit affairs, national resources defense council. girl scout, executive producer and host of green's connections radio. also joining us today in spirit, girl scout founder, juliette gordon low. she recently made her debut at the wax museum in washington, d.c. [applause] when people hear the word girl scout, they think of cookies, thin mints, and somaos. for our speaker, grow scout cookies mean goal setting, money management, and people skills. training that help young girls think about business. when she was growing up in arizona, she joined the girl scouts and went away to camp at age 10. that was a moment of revelation for the young latina from a not very well the small town. and she tells the story, it was the first opportunity she had to go away by yourself without her family. she was with girls her own age from all over the state from many different backgrounds. camping gave her the sense that it was cool to be a girl. and there was a bigger world out there that she ever thought about. that is exactly what juliette gordon low had in mind when she established the girl scouts. that was 100 years ago. before women had the right to vote, were expected to go to college, or participate in the business world. juliette gordon low was the product of a southern upbringing and she found her true calling in bringing girls of all backgrounds together to learn about self-reliance, diversity, and actively produce abating in civic life. -- participating in civic life. how girls can help their country was the first girl scout handbook. two-thirds of the female members of congress have been pro scouts. all three female secretaries of state, condoleezza rice, madeleine albright, and hillary clinton as well as venus williams, lucille ball -- including future leaders right here in our audience. troop 1327. troop 4006. it yesterday, the president honored juliette gordon low with the presidential medal of freedom. today, her journey brought her here. she had a fear -- a bold colors kick to the j.k. falls scholarship to yale. she worked with the tenant the peloton all. she spent some time here in d.c., as well. in senior roles of the u.s. department of transportation, the small business administration, and the federal highway administration. she became the ceo of gross doubts usa when and a half years ago. -- girl scouts usa one and a half years ago. even then she leaves the 100th anniversary celebration, she is dealing with political fire from some who say scatting promote sexuality and abortion and the u.s. congress of cash a bit that says it is investigating the -- catholic bishop says it is investigating the organization. they have a new batch that girls can earn for understanding on mine safety and preventing cyber bullying. chávez hopes to make her mark in a very big way. she has launched an ambitious program to disclose the leadership clagap between men ad women. we look forward to hearing about it. please welcome and a maria chavez. -- ana maria chavez. [applause] >> thank you. thank you for that wonderful introduction. my mother appreciates the fact that you used the official by zero. i want to thank the head table. thank you for making this happen. i am very grateful to lead a national organization in partnership with 112 girl scout councils across the country. thank you for being here. to our national board, thank you and to those of you in the audience that are here to support us and also girl scouts. we are so proud of you. i wanted to start my remarks talking about the girls. a very special girl. a girl that growth in china. a little about this girl -- if you imagine your hand. she did not have thinkers. just the palm and the thumb. there was a family that travel to china to adopt her in an orphanage. they brought her to georgia where they loved her in care for her. even the daily task of tying a shoe or picking up a toy it was difficult for this young girl. the name for danielle. daniel had lots of aspirations. as anybody does these days, they googled it is solution. they found a whole community of people who want to support this young lady but they found a group in particular of leaders who wanted to investigate a process to help this little girl. this group went out and they investigated different options. they visited manufacturing plants, they went to stores. after six months and 180 hours of research and work, they developed a prosthetic hand made out of things they could figure how to use in a craft store. they put it on her hand and it worked. for the first time, she was able to write her name. these amazing individuals are called the flying monkeys. really, truly. [laughter] it is a girl scout troop from ames, iowa. there are amazing. so amazing that these members went on to win a global competition, beating out to almost 200 other teams and claiming a $20,000 prize to patent their device they called bob 1. it is a great story. i tell that story because it inspires me and it inspires other girls. think about this. six intra but middle school girls sitting there figuring out how to create a hand for a little girl. you know, and so, thinking about these girls, i get bullish about america's future given the fact that we have girls out there that have incredible ingenuity, creativity, and not only that, they are thinking about other people. as the chief executive officer for the girl scouts of the usa, i have the privilege and the honor of seeing these girls across the country. at this story has a good ending, but unfortunately, there is another side to this. it distresses me because there are remarkable girls trying to do great things. but, well enough of them grow up to realize their full potential because unfortunately, we do not see enough women in leadership positions across the country. if you look at congress, only 16% of our elected officials are women. across corporate america, women occupy only 15% of seats on board room boards. in 2% hold a top job at a fortune 500. women manage to% of all its funds in 10% of -- 3% of all hedge funds. women outperform funds in general, even during tough times such as these. women hold just 16% of the top positions at movie studios in the own fewer than 6% of tv stations. currently, women make up only 6.5% of the science advisory board members at u.s. high-tech firms. the let me give you another image. imagine this -- imagine a squadron in an elementary school. with 50 kids. evenly divided between boys and girls. ask every girl to leave the room except for one. ask the group of 25 boys and one girl to take on and solve a challenging problem. that is the situation we have in the u.s. unfortunately, you know, we are making progress in some ways. yes. young women are going on to college. they're earning a degree. nearly half of all law students are girls. and in too many cases, we are not getting girls from aspirations to action. especially when it comes to science, technology, engineering, science. it is a vicious cycle. there are enough sexual -- there are enough successful women in technology. i work with a lot of girls. i travelled the country. i get to talk to girls ages 5 to 17 and they tell me their dreams. eagle one, that is what they call me, they say, help us. i go to school. i am really excited about math and science. a rough fourth grade, girls do not do math and science. they opt out. then, they go on in the book to high-school and they are thinking about student government and they do things and unfortunately, girls, that is being too bossy. what are you doing that? they go on into their careers and again, sometimes they do not see the female role models. the girls say, help us. help us change the messages that girls are getting in today's society. we bring out some negative beta of our own girls. right now, our research says that nearly 90% of girls say the fashion industry in the media places pleasure on them to be thin. -- pressure on them to be thin. 42 percent and are growing up economically disadvantaged and those are higher for hispanics and african-american girls in this country. eight out of 10 girls are interested in interacting with successful women, a majority of them, 60%, say they have not been offered a chance to visit the workplaces of successful women in their communities during the last school year. is it any wonder or 61% of girls say leadership is either important or they do not want to be leaders. i know you are taking a pause with me because again, we have got to get beyond this data. looking at growth, specifically girl scouts, we found out that on valentine's day, we published report that said girls love math. what they want is a handout. they want somebody to say -- to enter them. talking to girls, we want them to know it is a career option. we cannot have girls opting out. they can change the world. this is about all girls. there is one girl named in july. amazing. at 17, she invented in in a particle. -- a national particle. one that kills cancer cells. she won $100,000 at a math and science competition. coming up right next to her is marion. she has done research on land mines around the world. she did not sit back, she wanted to do something. she went out and she created an alternative. a device that actually goes out there and identifies where the land mines are buried. she won a scholarship and her invention is a great thing because people can produce it as a -- get a cheaper cost. when you support these girls and mentor them, they will get on their journeys because they truly know the path. sometimes adults put barriers in their way. we put stereotypes. negative images. if you are sitting there with the girls and you start kicking the mirrors that of the way, they will jump to where they need to get to. shh i had a lot of people in life, and heard me. i was poor when i was growing up but did not know it because we were rich in love. the only thing i wanted to be was a girl scout. when i had the opportunity to become a member of this in a versatile -- this institution, i went to san antonio to work for the girls in southwest texas. i remember sitting there and thinking about girls. you know, they see our organization as iconic. one day, we were doing this recruit because we still work in partnership with school districts across the country to recruit girls. we did a brochure and we'd take them to the schools to renounce events. we hope it gets into teachers boxes. we hope that if its home and a parent finds that form. that worked one day. a little girl had the form in her backpack and she showed up at one of our recruitment events at the elementary school one night. after everything was done, my staff and volunteers looked and there was one person left and it was her. beautiful little girl. she said she came by yourself. there is my bicycle. [laughter] they said, it is late. she said i have forgotten my way, can you take me home. this little young lady was living with her father, single parent, working two jobs. the script is great because it was only $12 to be a girl scout. $12. for them, that is a heavy burden. they looked under self assertions -- sofa cushions and she found $12 in change. she brought that and she put it in front of my recruiter and said, you know, we may be poor and the lawn today, but i want to be a girl scout because i know i could change the world. she changed my life. i knew at that time, it was not about just girl scouts, it was about girls changing their lives. changing the world. they are ready. it is up to adults to step up and say, you know what, let me pick at $12. let me buy you that sash. let me give you the opportunity to integrate with amazing women and men who want to support your journey. come on, go ask the flying monkeys. go ask angela. marion. for us, we sit here in the nation's capital where innovation and creativity and governance happened. can you imagine if we doubled the number of girls in that pipeline of leadership here? to reeser read the list of the girl scouts and it goes on and on. imagine we only serve 8% of girls, imagine if we doubled that. in our studies, recently, we found that if you compared girl scouts alumni to non-alumni, they outperform in almost every single measure. they were making more money. they had a higher education a payment. they were happier. they're retreating to their community. volunteering. they were voting. -- they were contributing to the committee. they were voting. what we also discovered is that currently, we have 59 million living alumni in this country. approximately one in two women have spent time in the organization during their lives. what i love about it is that it is going to give us the opportunity to connect with the alumni, to bring them back into mentor other girls. our system is simple. it has worked for 100 years. discover, connect, take action. allowing girl to discover the issues around her. in her local community or around the globe. connect her to other people who are interested in that project and then allow her to take action. 100 years. juliette gordon low will tell you if she stood here today that works. every sicko,in we are in 92 countries in the world. -- every zip code, we are in 92 countries in the world. i need your help. we cannot do it alone. so, we will create an opportunity for you and it is called to get her there. it is the largest, boldest advocacy campaign for girls leadership in the nation's history. we are trying to create balanced leadership in this country in one generation. so that every single girl has the opportunity to step into the leadership role. we need her smart ideas. we need her decisions. we need her to contribute. you know, it is not about boys against girls or men against women. i'm the mother of a 10-year-old boy. what is about is this great country. it is about this girl scout movement that needs to continue because we need to help more girls. the issue for russia is scale. we cannot do it by ourselves. -- for us is killed. we cannot do it by ourselves. it will take every leader. every parent. every entrepreneur. unfortunately, today, only 7% of the philanthropic dollars go to girls. we have to invest in girls because i am convinced that somewhere out there across this beautiful country, there is a girl sitting there with a cure for alzheimer's. a girl figuring out how to make others lives better. better.s''s lives will we dedicate the time to sponsor a girl. will it be strong enough to stand up and say, today, not on my watch, will you make a girl feel less. when people start casting against an iconic organization, will you say, that is not true? you know, i will end with a simple story. the fact of the matter is, i stand before you as a product of this reorganization. but, for girl scout, i probably would have been on a different path. i was on all of the indicator list. latina. agricultural rural community. my parents did not go to college. you know what, somebody, an adult, reached out her hand and said, you matter. today on my watch, you matter. along the way, my path was filled with adults that understood the potentials of a girl. what i ask you today is that you invest in one girl. it could be your neighbor. your daughter. your knees. it could be a daughter of somebody in foster care. bowring trout protective services. -- or in child protective services. there is a crossing in memphis, tenn., ames, iowa, a birmingham, alabama. they need us. i am convinced that with a girl succeeding, the country succeeds. thank you. [applause] >> you talked about reaching out to one girl. if you could convince girls to stay in the girl scouts, what would you say and what does being a girl scout mean to you? >> wow. there is a lot i would love to share with corals. i had this great opportunity. what i would tell that is to be a girl. you know, i have a great opportunity to work for two great governors in arizona. one gave me the opportunity to work in the child protective services where girls had issues that have impacted their lives. i met this young lady and she had lost her youth. i said to are, if you could talk to other girls, what would it be? she said, tell girls to the girls. stop being in such a hurry to be an adult. enjoy life. you know? go out. create friends. create positive environment. do not let social pressures bring you down because you will have a mortgage one day. do not worry about that. [laughter] it is ok. be a girl. enjoy life. that is what is really going to make you happy. >> what do you think are the two or three biggest barriers to girls becoming girl scouts? is it different in urban versus rural areas? >> a lot of people do not realize that the barrier is financial. even though i will talk -- is only $12 a year. that is two lattes. [laughter] where i came from, 20,000 girl scouts, half of them were on scholarship. i fundraiser to pay for half of their feet. if that -- that can be a barrier. between rural and urban, i think it is just a different experience. i grew up in a rural community with one girl scout troop. we were very tight. we did everything together. the urban community, they have more opportunities to do field trips around different things. what i think is great about girls doubts -- once -- girl scouts, once you enter, you are entering a national movement. you are experiencing something the same because it is the same leadership experience. >> can people contribute directly to pay a girl's $12 and how they do that? [laughter] >> absolutely. [laughter] we can start today. you know, our website is girlscouts.org or tog etherthere.org. there is a button. we would love for you to invest in the promise of a girl. they will do great things. >> the girl scout gold award is comparable to the eagle scout rank yet no one knows what it is. will there ever change? [applause] >> absolutely. a little history. in 2016, the gold award will turd 100 years old. the issue is is a branding issue. we have changed the name of a gold award. it is the highest award a girl can achieve. over the decades, there of women who -- who have earned it but it was named a different thing. you will see in the next few months, a ramp up around the campaign gold award. we will show the country be amazing women who have earned the highest award in girl scouts and the will honor them and show them. what i would love to see as with the eagles out -- scout award, the girls walk in with their resume and it says gold award recipient and their hired on the spot. but it is an educational process. we can tell people that if a girl received this award, she only represents 5% of gross and in all of gross scouting. it is the pinnacle of their career and we should support them. >> how you think participating in the gross scouts will help women achieve leadership positions in society? >> for growth in gross counting -- for girls and girl scouting, it is an opportunity to learn different things whether it be homelessness or domestic violence. through community service, they are constantly giving back and raising funds to fund other nonprofits and to solve community issues. with a girl scouts and being involved, it can really expand their horizons and help other people. >> how does the cooking program fit in today's modern girl scouts? >> you have to meet some of our amazing cookie sellers. they are hard core. they go out there and they have a goal. well what i love about the cookie program -- first of all, a lot of people do not know, it is the largest entrepreneur program for girls in the country. i meet women in the highest positions of corporate life and the first thing they tell me as i learn my business skills making the pitch, selling micro scout cookies, setting goals and tracking inventory. and i volunteered my mother and i dragged her into it. and my father had to help and all of a sudden the family was involved. but what the cooking program does for girls is it less allows them to set a goal as early as five-years old. they are out there. what they do is they sell the cookies and they get a percentage of the revenue. they get to decide what they will do with that. in a lot of them travel internationally to visit with other girls. they are either bronze, silver or gold award projects to help other people. it gives some self-confidence. how many of you have done a cold calling business? how hard is it to knock on the door? what the girls have told us is we want a technology side to the cookie business. they are online. they have a technology background. they want us to integrate our traditional cooking program which is iconic with the future business. the future of business has an e commerce platform. you may see something in the future around some of these technology advances that growth will help design a round cookie program. >> what percentage of gross up the sales does a gross scout troop retain after deducting expenses? >> it depends on the beach where you live. a little trivia question tyrian there are two companies that make a girl scout cookies in this -- there are two companies that make a girl scout cookies. and in some states, the samoa has a different name. but the money, 80 cents goes to the baker and a girl gets a percentage to rid the other piece goes to the troop or local council to fund their camps, programming during the year, after school. it provides support not for. what is most important and what i want to say to you is thank you. thank you for supporting the girls because it is funding their leadership development program. all the money they raise stays local. it is invested back into your local communities. so thank you for supporting them. >> i was a top cookie seller with a mother that was a cooking mother. so my family appreciates that. on the other hand, what of the level of childhood obesity, does the girl scouts have any comment about that? >> isa everything in moderation. -- i say everything in moderation. people get very excited because are cookies are sold only once a year. the cookie program -- the first girl scout troop made cookies in 1917 in oklahoma. over the years, a lot of the cookie revenue is donated to the troops. you can walk up to a cookie booth and say i will not purchase a cookie today but i will donate the cookies back and the girls will ship the cookies overseas. one of the amazing pieces i get in the mail or letters and e- mails from people serving overseas who are in a bunker in the middle of battle and then the mail comes after two months of waiting and what they get is a care package. and there are cross all cookies and saw the them. all of a sudden, they are transported back to being 12, sitting in their grandmother's kitchen. for them, it is a peace and time with the are connected back to this country to say we are there supporting you. so our goals are doing that in supporting military families. with help listing -- with healthy living, we want to assure the girls they are living actively. we are involved in programming with exercise. that is a critical part of our work with girls. >> one grossed out here said she -- but she has enjoyed most is that opportunities inexperiences she's -- she has gained and is wondering if girl scouts around the world are getting the same opportunities. >> we are honored to have grossed out in 92 countries. -- girl scouts 92 countires. crows may be living abroad working for a -- girls may be living abroad working for -- they are working on the same badges and learning from the same books. what we are doing is connecting the girls living here domestically with their girls out counterparts. we were in houston for a national convention last fall and we saw a girl scouts from all over the world come together. they are part of the same family and having fun together. >> what is the organization doing to recruit leaders who are willing to go camping, even if rains come inhales or snows? -- rains, hails or snows? >> a lot of people say they want to help but they do not like camping. we have tons of volunteer opportunities. just talk to the table of growth here today. if the act -- if you ask them, everyone of them has a different area of expertise. we need adults to volunteer to support those passions. if you are not a camper, maybe if you are a judge -- i recently recruited one. i said this is how you will help me. first of all, you have the juvenile justice system. i said if you volunteer with me and sign up more gross doubts, we will divert girls from your bench. you know what he did? he wrote a check to become a member that day. since then, he has sponsored a series were he is working with local lawyers and they are literally teaching girls of all the law. merely showing them the process. if you're over the age of 18 and you want to volunteer, we will find a way, even if you are not a camper. >> as children become more connected through devices like tablets and smartphone and their attention spans decrease, how does the girl scouts and just -- adjust? >> speaking from my mother's perspective, at 10-year-old u.s. every device manageable, understand that connection but that also realize this is the first generation that has spent most of their time growing up inside. when i was a gross out, my mother would say go play and we would go off -- girl scout, my mother would say go out and play and we would go off. so there is a balanced making sure that they are technologically savvy so they can compete in school and in their careers but to also understand about the environment. one of the benefits of being a gross out -- girl scouts is its about the environment. we own green. in their experiences, girls have always been connected back to the environment. they are out there. they have taken them horseback riding and camping. they can understand about the earth and the other stars and galaxies. we are constantly bringing them into nature and connecting it back to science and math and technology so that girl scouting makes sense for them. >> with your new product, togetherthere, how they plan to get younger girls to make sure they stay on the right path to get to their future as they get older? >> for us, it is very clear. a lot of people say it is an audacious goals, changing the leadership landscape of this country in one generation of girls. but i said it is time. how can you wait for another generation to pass by without getting those opportunities? when my mother was growing up, her opportunities were limited compared to mind -- to mine but she did everything in her power to take down those doors and barriers. to engage more girls and to make other people aware. i am hoping all of you here, you will educate your colleagues at work. set them down and say have you heard about this campaign? it is powered by rolls cows but everybody is involved. -- by girl scouts but everybody is involved. our goal is to engage adults in becoming aware and advocating on behalf ofgirls and donating to the cause. to a girl scouts organization for an organization that empowers girls. it is about every single community organization coming together to support leadership. >> girl scouts the -- the girl scouts have a long history of being inclusive to gays and lesbians. how does that inclusiveness shaped what the organization is today -- how has that inclusiveness shape what the organization is today? >> our organization has always been that way. i was recently able to go to georgia. we turned 100 years old in march. i was sitting there reflecting as a reading her diaries are around the challenges of creating an organization around corals. -- girls. this is before women had the right to vote. she created scandal throughout georgia because she had roles marching to the street in bloomers because they were going to play basketball in her backyard. for her, it was about engaging all girls. during my visit there, i got to meet with the leaders and a rabbi at a local synagogue. they showed me in their archives presence and letters from julie gordon low. some of the girls from the synagogue for some of the members of the first troops of gross out. you look across -- troops of girl scouts. you look across the country and our girls come from all sorts of backgrounds. we are creating opportunities for girls to know that we all matter. the u.s. conference of catholic bishops filed an inquiry to investigate concerns the girl scouts have problematic relationships with groups like planned parenthood. what is their relationship with planned parenthood? >> thank you for this opportunity to set the record straight. i think with social media and opportunities to post things, there are certain misconceptions about our organization. i think because we are an inclusive organization, we stand in a place where we serve a broad demographic of girls. all backgrounds, all faiths. we are working with the conference of bishops have to answer questions they have the data received from some members. we look forward to answering those questions and bringing the facts. but we have been very clear. we do not take positions on some of these issues that we are being alleged to take positions on. those issues are clearly within the family decision making. we are a leadership development program. that is what we have been founded to do, that is our mission, to create a gross of her rich in character who make the world a better place. -- to create girls of rich character who make the world a better place. we look forward to setting the record straight. >> to the crow scouts have a relationship -- do the girl scouts have a relationship with planned parenthood? >> we do not have a relationship. we are focused on what is a to portrait girls. -- what is important to girls. >> there are many media representatives here. what role should they play in empowering grows and women and what is your view of how women and girls are portrayed in the media today? >> we have a lot of studies that have come out through our research institute that talk about the issues impacting girls. we hosted media panels throughout the country. i was stunned recently to talk to some ladies. they came up to me and said we want to help. to show girls that it is ok to be themselves and you do not have to do computer generation to change the way you look. one particular female newscaster actually did something live on television with no makeup. it created havoc. can you imagine? but it was her way of telling the girls it is ok. we do not need all of this to be the professional person standing out. this is our job. we have had some amazing media partners. i want to specifically think our media partners here today and those across the country who have been working with us during our hundred anniversary to spread the good message. and they have. we have gotten over 70 million medium -- media impressions over the last six months. our media partners understand that we are one community. but they can help. they have a powerful voice. they get to the girls through television, magazine, radio. they can help encourage the growth to stay on their paths -- girls to stay on their past. >> the boy scouts have been talking about struggling with membership numbers. how is the girl scouts bering? >> the first time in 10 years, we are up in membership. we are very proud of that. i have spoken to other ceos of major nonprofits and i think we have all been struggling because of the economy. when a family sit back and says we have to make rand or a parent loses a job, they go back to the basics. part of it is -- we are the best kept secret in the united states. to talk to any woman from most -- for the most part, they were touched by an organization and have a positive opportunity. but we do not tell our story. part of that is telling the story so more girls will join. they cannot buy something they cannot see. that is why we are out there. yep probably seen in the last six months more stories about girl scouts than ever. talking about the great work they're doing changing lives. for us, it is about sharing that external story so that people will invest in paroles and advocate for them and sponsor them. -- invest in girls and advocate for them and sponsor them. >> economic imperative. i used to work for the sba. i think you about economy and where jobs are being generated. there is a need -- they are going to need skilled employees. from a business perspective, you have to invest in growth to get them on that path. if we sit back and say let's do two or three generations of gross, will pass a whole opportunity that these girls will give back to the community and country. it makes sense for government to invest in programming around a leadership development for girls. with 59 million living alumni of gross counts -- girl scouts, by spreading the message, they will come back. everybody will get involved. >> how to the girl scouts work to build a girl's up on their own terms? >> it is always a discussion that men are in these roles. we recently looked across the top 10 jobs sectors across the country from military to academia. only 70% of leadership positions were held by women. i think it goes back to what you see in front of you. for my mother, she was so wise career she would not tell me what to do. she would a kind of lay out the issue. she walked me through saying how can you make a difference? in my mind, i figured out how to get there. girls need adults to stand up and say so you found out there is no recycling program in your school. so what would you do about that? let the girls dream about that. as we engaged more girls and adults, i think it will start seeing in this. the balance of leadership was created over many decades. we cannot do it today. we cannot do it tomorrow. but in one year, we can create awareness about these issues and get on our way to making a difference for girls. >> togetherthere address is getting younger girls involved in scouting. does it include older girls? >> we serve girls all the way to the age of 17. a lot of girls think they cannot join because they are in high school. the girls i have spoken to love being in girl scouts even if they were older because they could see the connection between what they want to do as an adult peripherals a working towards their silver and gold awards, they are being involved in issues and impacting their community. so they figure out maybe that is what i want to go to school to study. then they get into the field and they figured there are a girl scouts lot of -- a lot of girl scouts alumnis working in this company. maybe they can help me. i asked them questions. i sit down with a lot of them. when i was a local ceo, i sat down with girls. i would say there are 10 -- they would say what you want to know? i said, how are we recruiting? is that working for you? and they would tell me eagle one is not working. if the compound of the table in high school with a box of cookies, -- if you put up a table in high school with a box of cookies, that will not work for me. we created a program called gamme sigma girls. because i was told older girls would not join girl scouts. we thought we would get one high school in san antonio. be sent 25 girls. almost overnight, we got every single high-school to become girl scouts. 10 schools, 25 girls. we blew the cap. you know what happened? it was amazing. they started getting involved. then they ran for student government. a maker recently -- i met a girl recently and she told me that girl scouts changed to life. a lot of people told her as she got older, you should not get involved in this. but she joined and all of a sudden she had girl scouts friends and sisters. they started doing community service projects and joining student government. this young girl had been homeless all her life. she had been in 10 schools. she immediately was grounded in girl scouts. she went on to speak nationally on the issues impacting teenagers and homelessness and has now gone on to college in a full ride. she speaks about how in one year as a junior in high school, girl scouts completely changed her opportunities. it is never too late to join. >> when do you think we will see a female president and will she be a girl scout? >> the odds are sheep will be agirl scout. -- she will be a girl scout. even if you look at the current cabinet of president obama, hillary clinton, the secretary of state, 8 girl scout. -- a girl scout. they are in these leadership positions already. for us as a community, but above an opportunity for a woman to serve. -- we would love an opportunity for a woman to serve. she will serve as a leader. as somebody who wants to make a difference. the fact that she is a woman is an added bonus. a lot of people say how can you do that? we are making our way. we are in schools, doing the internships, taking a hard jobs and hard assignments and making sacrifices. give them a chance to fill that need. >> before i get to the last question, a couple of announcements to make. i will like to remind all of you about our upcoming luncheon speakers on june 4. we have the general -- gerald ford awards. tonight, -- on june 9th. we have our 15th annual beat the deadline race that benefit the national press club. tony horton will be here. ivo like to present our guest with our traditional -- i would like to present our guest with traditional npc coffee mug. [applause] have you learned of theflash -- the flash mob dance? >> i am a little stressed about that. but i have a beat. i will pick it up. i am ready for the challenge. >> if you want to try any of it? i hear you are a good dancer? [laughter] >> what is your favorite cookie? [laughter] >> oh, man. wow. you saved the toughest question until the end. i will tell you what my answer used to be. after i gave the answer, it was a little political. my husband happened to be listening when i said i loved all cookies. he said stop it when i got home. you have a cookie, say the cookie. so my favorite cookie is the samoa. i embrace it. [applause] but girls get to choose their favorite cookie. and we have an iphone app that says based on your favorite cookie, we can tell you about your personality. [laughter] >> how about a round of applause for are speaker? take you for coming. thank you to be national press club staffs for organizing today's event. you can find out more information about national press club at press.org. thank you. we are turned. -- a juror in the -- adjourned. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> the house of representatives gavels in at 10:00 a.m. eastern. at noon, they work on a program for the next year. that is life here on c-span. over on c-span2, a look at president obama and mitt romney. at 10:15 a.m. on c-span3, a hearing on the role of the u.s. in regulating the in

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