Celebrating Black History Month with Girl Scout Alums in Government

In celebration of Black History Month, all month long I am highlighting Black Girl Scout alums who have accomplished incredible things and made a real impact on American life and culture. Today I’d like to focus on three Girl Scouts who have gone on to serve in our government.

Girl Scouts are very well represented in government positions—in fact, we overindex. Sixty percent of women in the 116th Congress are Girl Scout alums, including 57 percent of representatives and delegates in the House and 69 percent of U.S. senators. This is also true of African American women in congress—54.5 percent are Girl Scout alums. Truly staggering numbers that show the reach and impact of Girl Scouts!

Carol Mosely Braun represented Illinois in the U.S. Senate from 1993 to 1999. She was the first female African American Senator and the first female Senator from Illinois. After serving three terms, she was appointed the U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand, a position she held from 1999 to 2001. She now runs a private law firm in Chicago.

All three women who have served as Secretary of State were Girl Scouts, and that includes Condoleeza Rice, who was the first female African American Secretary of State and the second female Secretary of State (after Madeleine Albright). Before her leading the State Department, she was President Bush's National Security Advisor during his first term, the first woman to serve in that position. She is currently on the faculty of the Stanford Graduate School of Business and is director of its Global Center for Business and the Economy. Condoleeza is also an accomplished pianist who has played with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and Aretha Franklin!

Representing a new generation of female policymakers, Lauren Underwood is a registered nurse, a Gold Award Girl Scout, and the U.S. Representative for Illinois's 14th congressional district, elected in 2018. In 2014, she served as a Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Lauren speaks often of her time as a Girl Scout, emphasizing that Girl Scouts is where she learned “we had to serve and to give back.”

These women are true trailblazers who reflect Girl Scouts’ grounding in civic engagement and our commitment to serving our country and communities. This Black History Month, we salute these Girl Scout alums for their accomplishments and their contribution to American leadership.