Girl Scouts get $25,000 for racial healing, equity

Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois received a $25,000 grant from Healing Illinois, a racial healing initiative through a partnership of the Illinois Department of Human Services and the Field Foundation of Illinois, officials announced in a news release.

Funds from this grant will be used to facilitate racial healing activities and help build bridges between and among diverse populations in the communities the Girl Scouts serve, according to the release. Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois serves 16 counties including parts or all of Boone, Carroll, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Jo Daviess, Kane, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside and Winnebago.

In its grant application, Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois said it was seeking to build racial healing and equity through leadership development of girls age 5 through 18 and for women of color within the communities they serve.

“For girls, we utilize the Girl Scout Leadership Experience – a girl-led program that stresses learning by doing and working as a team with the guidance of supportive adults,” according to the grant application.

“It may be tempting to avoid the topic of race and racism, but statistics show that justice, health and education systems aren’t fair in basic ways that can negatively affect women and girls,” according to the grant application. “The education, safety and well-being of women and girls make these conversions a must for those who support a just and equal world.”

For example, race-driven violence against the Asian community has skyrocketed. And in every state, Black girls are twice as likely to be suspended from school as white girls, even though they don’t misbehave more frequently. Children raised in Black, Latinx and Native American households are more likely to live in homes with higher unemployment and lower incomes that white children, according to the grant application.

“One small way to combat this is knowledge, which can empower women of color to advocate for their children and for themselves and learn to take action together,” according to the application.

For adult women, the Girl Scouts developed leadership cohorts: Latinas Taking the Lead in 2021 and Black Women Taking the Lead in 2022.

The Latina cohorts started in the Aurora area and then it was expanded to the Elgin area and McHenry County.

The cohort program for Black women started in Rockford and the organization plans to expand it to include the Latina program there as well.

Twenty to 25 women participate in these cohort groups. They learn together and build their knowledge of systems, how to build relationships and strengthen trust. They also begin to heal as well as advocate for themselves, according to the grant application.

Each cohort meets six times, covering the topics of civic engagement, advocating for students, health and wellness, home ownership, financial education and career and professional development.

The cohorts discuss the underlying systems that can make it difficult for women of color to achieve certain goals and how to promote equity and healing.

The Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois relies on its Hispanic Engagement staff and Community Programs Specialist staff to facilitate cohort groups.

“In conjunction with this programming, it is always our hope that we build a pipeline of volunteers to assist with our Girl Scout troops,” according to the grant application.

“We feel the need for ongoing training and communication regarding racism and how it has impacted all of us,” according to the grant application. “With that in mind, we are including funding to contract with the YWCA of Northwestern Illinois in Rockford to take part in the ‘Unlearning Racism’ workshop that is offered through their organization for our volunteers and staff.”

The Field Foundation Inc. was established in 1940 by Marshall Field III, grandson of the merchant who founded the Marshall Field’s department stores.

Healing Illinois is focused on building the foundation for long-term racial healing and anti-racism in Illinois by partnering with organizations to engage in racial healing activities, according to its website,

More information is available online at www.dhs.state.il.us and fieldfoundation.org.

More information about Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois can be found at www.girlscoutsni.org or by calling 844-476-4463.