The Girl Scouts of Milwaukee Area Inc. has had a long commitment to reflecting the diversity of the communities they serve.” We didn't just start yesterday with our emphasis on diversity and inclusion," says Mary Beth Malm, executive director/CEO. "Since 1989, we have been looking at the way we invest our dollars and organize our programs to insure access and opportunity for all girls." To do this, Malm says, the organization has created a unique delivery model that reaches girls across every neighborhood and every facet of the community. 
     The organization actively recruits individuals from different backgrounds and cultures to fill staff positions and serve on the board of directors and in other volunteer capacities. And in the central city, through the organization's Urban Outreach Initiative, staff members serve as troop leaders, acting as a stabilizing force to attract volunteers. "We started with a handful of adult volunteers and now have several hundreds," she says. "A few parents have even taken on being troop leaders themselves, and many others are supporting their daughters in troop activities." Girl Scouts of Milwaukee Area also provides financial assistance to troops as needed, and it helps girls sell cookies so they can raise their own money and make their own decisions about the activities they want. 
     As a result of this aggressive outreach effort, Girl Scouts of Milwaukee Area's part-and full-time staff includes 40 percent individuals of color, with the board of directors at 29 percent and the volunteer base at 23 percent. The organization reaches more than 15,000 girls each year, 39 percent of them girls of color. 
     One very successful diversity effort has been the Zink the Zebra program introduced in 1998 after a year of collaborative development between the Girl Scouts of Milwaukee Area and Milwaukee's Zink the Zebra Foundation. The program helps girls learn the importance of respect and compassion by reading the story of Zink the Zebra, who has spots instead of stripes. They then discuss the true tale of the story's 11-year-old author, Kelly Weil, who wrote it while dealing with the physical effects of cancer, which led other children to ostracize her. 
     Zink the Zebra allows girls to talk about their feelings and reactions to people who exhibit physical differences in the safe, nurturing environment of their Girl Scout troop. Since 1998, the program has helped thousands of participating girls achieve outcomes of having respect for others, understanding others who appear different and being kinder and more compassionate to others. 
     The program materials - which are tailored to four age levels, kindergarten through 12th grade-give leaders pointers on how to facilitate discussions about sensitive topics such as stereotypes and the hurtful power of words. The leaders are instructed not to lecture the girls, but rather to let them reach their own answers. For older girls, role-playing is used to practice appropriate responses to various situations, so that when they are faced with a similar situation in real life, their responses can be genuine and automatic.
     When the Zink the Zebra program was rolled out to Milwaukee Girl Scout troops in 1998, the goal was to have 30 troops take part in the program. Word quickly spread among troop leaders about the value of the program, with the result that by the end of the year, the original goal was exceeded by 200 percent, with 94 troops participating. "We had no idea the program would be so successful," says Malm. "It was obviously the right tool at the right time. Leaders couldn't get enough of it because it's a neutral way to talk about issues." By the end of 2003, Zink the Zebra had served over 7,500 girls in Milwaukee alone. 
     In 1999, the program won the 1999 Girl Scouts of the USA Quality Recognition Award, and soon after, Girl Scout councils around the U.S. began asking how they could offer Zink the Zebra in their own communities. The Zink the Zebra foundation created part of its Website just for Girl Scout council's, and began offering the program packets nationwide. Today, over 300 councils across the country and overseas are using Zink the Zebra program activities that help girls and young women embrace differences and build self-esteem.
     Malm says the organization is delighted with the national recognition, but even more pleased with the outcomes of Zink the Zebra. Surveys of participants at the end of each program consistently show that the girls believe they will be kinder to others, more understanding of others who appear different, more respectful of others and more understanding that it's okay to be different.
     "Given what is coming to light today about girl's nastiness and bullying, it is clear that this program is having a significant, positive impact on girls," Malm says. "It is an opportunity to have important conversations and to model good behavior."