- the city's liaison for the Commission on the Assess of Women. So on behalf of our commissioners, we'd
- like to welcome you today to our 41st annual Women's History Month luncheon.
- to have you here for an afternoon of celebration as we present our 2026 Women's Achievement Award winners
- and enjoy a keynote address from the amazing CEO of Girl Scouts of Central Indiana, Dina Potter. Before
- we begin, we wanted to take the time to recognize that what we are celebrating today is only possible
- because of the generations of women before us who fought sacrificed organized marched supported one
- another and lifted one another up. We are grateful for their steadfast courage and strength and carry
- their determination forward in the work that we do today. We would also like to take a moment to acknowledge
- the land beneath our feet. The city of Bloomington stands on the traditional homelands of the Miami Delaware
- and Shawnee peoples, and we honor them as past and present caretakers. We also acknowledge that Indiana's
- growth, including here in Bloomington, was shaped by the unpaid labor and forced servitude of people
- of color, especially enslaved Africans. So as we gather today, let us remember these people and all
- these pieces of our history, and may their lessons continue to help guide us into the future.
- It is my pleasure to introduce you to the chair of the Commission on the Status of Women, Landry Culp.
- Hello. Thank you, Marissa. And thank you all for being here today and joining us to celebrate the incredible
- work women are doing in our Bloomington community.
- My name is Landry Culp and I serve as the chair of the Commission on the Status of Women or BCSW. The
- BCSW is dedicated to advocating for equity and improving opportunities for all who embrace a female
- identity. We do this by monitoring and reviewing policies and legislation on the federal, state, and
- local levels and engaging with our community to understand the needs of women. Our commission welcomes
- everyone who identifies as a woman and those who feel our women-focused environment aligns with their values.
- If you'd like to stay connected with the commission, please take a moment to scan the QR code on your
- table and fill out the brief survey so we can share updates and opportunities with you. When Marissa
- welcomed us earlier, she mentioned a remarkable milestone, 41 years. For more than four decades, this
- luncheon has provided a space
- to encourage connection, build community, and celebrate the women who give their time and their mental,
- physical, and emotional energy to move our city forward. Spaces like this, this commission, this gathering,
- and all of you who support it are important now more than ever. As the BCSW and with the support from
- you all, we are able to amplify voices, stand up for women's rights, and help create a community where
- the next generation of girls can truly thrive.
- In that spirit, the commission would like to take a moment to remember our good friend and most feared
- supporter, Charlotte Zietlow. Many of you know that Charlotte passed away in November of last year.
- What you may not know is that in 1973, while serving as city council president, Charlotte introduced
- ordinance 73-81. The following year that ordinance was approved, creating the commission on the status of women.
- While the founding of our commission was just one of Charlotte's many contributions to Bloomington,
- it is one for which we are especially grateful. Her vision made this work possible. Charlotte attended
- many of these luncheons over the years, including just last year. Today we honor her legacy and her
- commitment to the BCSW by wearing our Charlotte inspired hats. You may have also noticed that we have
- a small memorial table and honor located off to the side of the stage over here.
- where we have included a binder of original documents and photographs from the 1996 Women's History
- Month luncheon when Charlotte herself was named Women of the Year. If you hadn't had a chance to visit
- the memorial table, we invite you to do so after the program. Thank you for showing up and supporting
- the work that she had the vision and inspiration to start. Her legacy lives on in so many ways. So I
- close here by saying thank you. Thank you all for being here to celebrate
- women, past, present, and future. Next, please join me as I welcome Mayor Carrie Thompson to the stage.
- Hi, Bloomington and Bloomington women supporters. How are you this afternoon? Come on, come on.
- It's spring outside, we have to act a little happier. We like to find hope wherever we can in the world
- today. And it is my great honor to be with you for yet another Women's History Month luncheon. This
- is perhaps my favorite city-sponsored event of the year because this is the event that celebrates
- some of the people who otherwise remain invisible to us. And when we go through Black History Month,
- Women's History Month, our Latino Culture Month, these are the moments when we honor the stories that
- so frequently go untold and we see the people
- that make up our community every day. Thank you to the Commission on the Status of Women for all that
- you do to get us here year round and lifting up our women's voices year round. And before we begin,
- I want to recognize the women elected officials who are here today. And by that I mean, if you are a
- woman and you have ever
- been an elected official because I see some retired elected official women out there. Please stand and
- let us give you a round of applause. Thank you for your service.
- I also want to just take a moment to ask, and some people will be standing twice, if you are a woman
- and you're currently running for office, could you please stand up? Asia. My deep thanks to each of
- you for running for office. It is a courageous move.
- No matter what the outcome, I thank you for stepping forward and for your leadership in leading a campaign.
- One last round of applause. If you have been named a woman of the year in the past,
- I know there's lots of us. I said this morning, once you're a woman of the year, you're always woman
- of the year. You don't lose the crown. Could you please stand?
- For the rest of you who are female in this room, I would like to see you standing during part of these
- applause in coming years. Pick your passion. Run for office. Let us name you Women of the Year. Step
- forward in leadership in whatever way that you see fit and that you feel called. This year's theme is
- Women Shaping a Sustainable Future.
- want to make that real today. A sustainable future is about more than what we're doing just for the
- climate around us, but it is certainly about that. It is about everything that continues because of
- us. It's whether the people coming behind you have a clearer path, have more support, and more opportunity
- than we did. At its core, sustainability is personal.
- and it shows up in everyday life. It's about whether your life works, whether your community works.
- It's about whether the systems around you support you or expect you to meekly work around them. Let's
- be clear. Women have been sustaining things long before we started calling it sustainability. Families,
- workplaces, friendships, communities,
- Group chats, households, calendars, carpools. It's an entire ecosystem of coordination and care. We
- build networks without ever calling them networks. We mentor without titles. We create pathways without
- always realizing that we've done it. That is leadership.
- And that is what creates and sustains a community in the end. And at a moment like this, that kind of
- leadership truly matters. We're living through a time when people see what happens when power concentrates
- and overwhelms. Our voices get pushed out. Decisions move further away from the people that they affect.
- It's felt in our daily lives.
- in our communities, and in our sense of whether we belong in the future that we're building. In moments
- like this, the answer is not to step back. It's to lean in. It's to protect participation, to expand
- who gets heard, and to make sure leadership reflects the entire community.
- This is not a time when we go back to playing a game we've been trying to reestablish rules for for
- centuries. It's a time when we see that real progress is not bullying our way into a decision. It is
- bringing people along and decisively leading. That requires women, because women lead with a wide lens.
- More people get seen, heard, and have a fair shot because we have learned new ways of listening, specifically
- in order to be heard. And we tend to set our ground rules accordingly. Women understand what it takes
- to hold things together and to move them forward at the same time. That baby can certainly stay. His
- voice is welcome in our room.
- He doesn't want to stay, he doesn't have to though, but he's certainly not bothering me. We know as
- women what it means to carry responsibility and to juggle many things at one time. We pay attention,
- we anticipate needs, and women carry a deep
- understanding of what it means to sustain life in all of its forms. That perspective allows a community
- to thrive. A sustainable future requires potential to keep moving. It can't wait on luck or timing,
- and it certainly can't wait for permission. It has to move from one person to another, generation to
- generation.
- In Bloomington, we focus on unlocking potential. That matters because potential on its own is never
- enough. We all see what happens when potential gets stuck. Potential can sit quietly for years. It sits
- in the back. It lives in the background of somebody's life. And it looks like someone doing everything
- right and still wondering if that's enough.
- Some of us are waiting for the right moment, the right signal, or simply the right kind of encouragement
- to come forward. We all know people, and we certainly have been those people, who were capable of more
- but didn't have a clear way in. Sometimes we don't have a clear way in until something shifts. And more
- often than not, what shifts isn't a system
- It's a human being. It's an individual who says, come sit here, try this, or I see something in you.
- And if you think about your own life, you can probably name that person. I hope you can name several
- of those people. One who opened the door, one who made space at a table, one who spoke your name in
- a room that you weren't in yet.
- the one who didn't wait for you to be perfectly ready, who saw something in you before it was fully
- formed, and treated you like you already mattered. For me, that person was Charlotte Zietlow. I had
- no idea that the grand dame of the Democratic Party in Bloomington even knew my name, but she called it.
- by calling me on the telephone and asking me to come see her one summer afternoon 10 years ago for a
- gin and tonic. Now Charlotte had a heavy pour. So if you've been to her house in the past, you likely
- would know that. But I was careful not to drink that beverage that Charlotte poured me, to keep my wits
- about me because
- Anyone who's been in Charlotte's presence in the past will know that she will push you and try to get
- you to agree to things. Charlotte, on that day, told me that I needed to run for mayor. I simply laughed.
- I was not a mayor, nor was I a politician. I was in community development, and I was super happy leading
- in that realm.
- But that one conversation and Charlotte's renowned relentless persistence began my wondering, how could
- I remain true to my roots in community development and run for office? And why weren't those two things
- always inextricably linked?
- That moment may have felt small at the time. I don't know if Charlotte felt like she was shouting into
- a void and she had a parade of people coming to her house, asking them to run for office. But for me,
- it changed the direction of what I thought was possible. And when that happens across a community, again
- and again, across different spaces, across different people, that's
- when something much larger takes hold. That's when sustainability begins to show up in a real way, in
- a lived way. If we are not actively unlocking potential, we are unintentionally leaving it behind. We
- are missing people who could lead, build, solve, and stay if only they were brought in sooner.
- We are taking for granted our greatest community asset, our human gifts. And Bloomington cannot afford
- that. If we want to be a place where people build lives, not just pass through, we have to make it clear
- that there is space for them here. There is space for everyone here, and it's particularly important
- that we are looking not only for white cisgendered straight women, that we are looking for women of
- color, women who are LGBTQ plus. We are looking for women who don't yet have that leadership crown on
- their head, who don't have a title, because those are the women who likely
- have gifts that are hiding in the shadows. You are how potential lives in this community and how potential
- moves in this community. And no matter your gender, you play a role in that, in seeing women, supporting
- women, and in creating space for leadership to emerge and grow. Whether you are mentoring the next generation
- or literally raising them,
- Standing alongside someone in their work or stepping into something new yourself, you are shaping what
- comes next for Bloomington. That is how a sustainable future is built and that is the kind of future
- we are building together in Bloomington. Thank you for being here and thank you for being a part of
- this important work.
- Thank you, Mayor Thompson. We appreciate you being here and showing up for our commission and the work
- that we do. Thank you. My name is Nicole Bennett, and I'm a commissioner on the Bloomington Commission
- on the Status of Women. I'm really excited to bring us to the next part of our program, which is the
- awards. This is the part where we get to honor and celebrate incredible women who are doing work for
- women and girls in our community.
- With this, the commission will recognize the 2026 Women's Achievement Award winners, which includes
- the Young Woman of the Year, the Toby Strout Lifetime Contribution, and the Woman of the Year. To kick
- off the awards presentation, I'll pass it over to the BCSW's high school liaison and my stepdaughter,
- Bella Bennett. Thank you, Nicole.
- My name is Bella Bennett. I am the High School Liaison for the Commission on the Status of Women, and
- I'm excited to present the Young Woman of the Year Award. This award recognizes a young woman between
- the ages of 11 and 18 years who has already, at a young age, impacted girls and women's issues in the
- community. This year, the Young Woman of the Year is Isla Sorabi-Nia.
- She is a senior at Bloomington High School North and is passionate about giving back to her community
- and dedicating herself to matters related to women. Isla is co-president of Project Middle Way at BHSN,
- which is affiliated with Middle Way House, a local nonprofit dedicated to supporting survivors of domestic
- violence, sexual violence, and human trafficking.
- Project Middle Way exists to give high school students voice and advocacy as well as plan, as well as
- a place to learn about body positivity and healthy relationships. ILA has been instrumental
- in the organization fundraisers such as annual fashion show and clothing drives where all proceeds and
- donations go directly to Middle Way House. ILA is also an intern at Amplify Bloomington, president of
- the BHSN Habitat for Humanity Club, president of BHSN Cougar
- care meals and co-president of her graduating class for the past three years. She is a wonderful example
- of what it means to be a strong young woman who advocates for others. Please join us in honoring Isla
- Sorabinia.
- Thank you so much. I'd like to quickly thank the commission on the status of women and the
- city of Bloomington for enabling women to be celebrated and recognized for all of our achievements.
- I'd also like to thank my family friends and teachers for all their support. Thank you.
- I am Carrie Stillions, Executive Director of Middle Way House and BCSW Commissioner. I am so proud to
- announce this next award named for former Middle Way House Executive Director and former BCSW Commissioner,
- Toby Strout. The Toby Strout Lifetime Contribution Award recognizes a woman,
- whose work significantly advances the status of women through leadership and through service. This year's
- winner is a woman who leads with compassion, inclusivity, and an unwavering commitment to her community
- by ensuring access to nutritious food and essential items without judgment or barriers.
- Please join me in recognizing Executive Director of Pantry 279, Cindy Chavez.
- What started as a Small Girl Scout project has now transformed under Cindy's leadership into one of
- the most vital and high impact organizations in our area. Each month, Pantry 279 serves thousands of
- families in over 39 counties who are facing food insecurity. Many of these families are led by women
- balancing the stressors of caregiving, work, and finances.
- In addition to addressing food insecurity, Cindy has created programs that support children year round,
- including holiday assistance initiatives and partnerships that provide feminine hygiene products. Cindy's
- impact on women and girls in our community has been profound by helping maintain health, stability,
- and dignity during difficult times.
- In the words of one of Cindy's nominators, Cindy's work reflects the very best of community leadership,
- quiet, consistent, and deeply human. She advocates for those who are often overlooked, including single
- mothers, caregivers, teenage girls, ensuring not only access to food and essential items,
- but a sense of belonging. Congratulations, Cindy, on this well-deserved award. Thank you. Thank you.
- Thank you, my family, of course. The girls who started it, the one whose mouth started it.
- my incredible staff, board members, volunteers, and honestly, we wouldn't be here today without all
- of you and the community supporting us and welcoming the pantry and letting us survive. So thank you
- all so much, and thank you for dealing with my grandson.
- Congratulations, Cindy. Good afternoon or morning. Hi, my name is Tanora Sapp. I'm a proud Girl Scout
- troop co-leader, proud MCCSE teacher, proud Latina, proud commissioner of the Commission on Hispanic
- and Latina Affairs.
- Thank you. I have an honor here today to present the Woman of the Year Award, which is presented to
- a woman who has improved the quality of life for other women through inspiration, community service,
- or professional accomplishments. The 2026 Woman of the Year is Dr. Christine Belz.
- Dr. Felix is an AP Biology and introductory science teacher at Bloomington High School South, where
- she also serves as a STEAM coach and mentor. She's especially committed to mentoring young women in
- STEM, including seven young women who were recently named the 2025 national winners in the Samsung Solve
- for Tomorrow STEM Innovation Competition, and whose project was featured at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
- Dr. Milks also currently serves as head coach of Bloomington South's Science Olympia team and has volunteered
- her time to guide student-led innovation teams, which have developed creative community-oriented solutions.
- Her work has created spaces, classroom teams, where young women learn to see themselves as scientists,
- innovators, and leaders, and where their ideas are encouraged and valued.
- In addition, Dr. Mills is a core volunteer and central organizer of the Girl Scouts of Central Indiana
- and leads an intentionally inclusive multi-age troop in Monroe County. She is instrumental in organizing
- many educational and entrepreneurial events for the Girl Scout community, such as the Fourth of July
- Parade and the Cookie Rally. Look at your cookies, which she leads with passion and excitement.
- In 2024, she was named Girl Scouts of Central Indiana Leader of the Year. Dr. Milks is a pillar and
- a role model in our community, showing girls what it looks like to live with integrity, compassion,
- and courage. As one of her nominators wrote, through her own example and constant encouragement, she
- showed me that barriers are meant to be challenged. Ultimately, Dr. Milks inspired me to dream bigger,
- with empathy and believe in myself. As a personal note, Kiki, her camp name, has made an impact not
- only on my professional and personal life, but more importantly on my daughter's experience as a student
- at Bloomington High School South and as a Girl Scout. We are so happy to be together to be part of this
- celebration and to count her as a colleague, Girl Scout sister, and friend.
- Please join me in congratulating the 2026 One of the Year, Dr. Kirsten Milks. Hi. I just wanted to start
- by saying that I know a lot of people in the room, and you're awesome. And I think that
- The most important thing for me as I've been thinking about what it looks like to authentically engage
- and empower youth are kind of three things. So the first one, Mayor Kerry, are you still here? Like
- you said the thing, so I'm just going to echo it and I'm thankful for that. That the work that happens,
- projects are dependent on people.
- and the relationships that they make and the mentorship and the space. So because I have a lot of people
- in the room who have care taken and meant a lot to me on my journey to empowering kids with a focus
- in Girl Scouts on women and girls, I'd like you to think of somebody who was important to you. And if
- you feel so moved in a moment, I'd like their name
- out of you in this room so that we can have a large collection of the people who have supported and
- mentored us. So I'm going to go first, because I get to. There are a lot of people here that I have
- taught and loved. But a person I've been thinking a lot about is Katura, who's in the back of my room.
- She's a 2021 BHSS graduate. And she is a huge part of what has taught me about
- what it means to be a young person today and what's possible for incredible young people. So who's your
- Keturah? Ready? Three, two, one. Toby Strout. Yeah. And a lot of other names too. So Charlotte. Charlotte.
- And like my mother-in-law, who drove all the way from Indianapolis to be here today, when we think about
- what is next and how we build a sustainable, high-impact, humane, collaborative future, it is those
- relationships and understanding what's possible.
- And that's why I'm so thankful to be in our school corporation, to have worked with your amazing kids,
- to Dr. Winston for her exceptional leadership and care, and to the school board. I mean, it is such
- a joy to come to school every day and to go to our Girl Scout meetings and to be in community with Girl
- Scouts and the adults who care take them and to just see what's
- And to that end, I'm so thankful that in a moment we're going to get to hear from Dina, our wonderful
- new CEO of Girl Scouts of Central Indiana. I just, what's magical for me about Girl Scouts is not just
- the people you see in their vests and their tabs, it's the adults and the families
- and getting to know a little bit more about the amazing things that are happening in our community.
- And those stories aren't mine to share, right? I know a lot of things about what have happened for girls
- and women and kids in general as they go on their way and learn to be leaders. You should know that
- behind the scenes, there are women making real
- differences. And in fact, for everybody who's up here on the stage, there are people like Heather and
- Christy and Jenny, who are then my co-servant unit managers. There are people who have stopped to say
- hi to you when your kids were rampaging in the yard. Victoria, where are you dear? Right? Like, I just,
- it really, Bloomington is such a beautiful place because we have built and continue to build these welcoming
- and warm connections.
- and I feel really thankful to be a part of it. And last but not least, Cindy, I've been fangirling you
- for a long time, and my troop has a donation in my trunk to give to the food pantry, so. Thanks everybody
- so much. It means a lot, and I'm very thankful to be here.
- Can we give another round of applause for our 2026 Women Achievement Award winners? You all are true
- examples of leadership, advocacy, and empowerment, and we are forever indebted to you in the ways that
- you improve the lives of women and girls in our community.
- My name is Shayla George and I am a BCSW Commissioner and a 2026 500 Festival Princess and I am pleased
- to introduce our 2026 keynote speaker Dina Potter. Dina is the Chief Executive Officer of Girl Scouts
- of Central Indiana the nation's 15th largest Girl Scout Council supporting more than 15,000 Girl Scouts
- in 45 counties across the heart of our state.
- She has served Girl Scouts of Central Indiana for 27 years, most recently holding the role of Chief
- Operating Officer before being named CEO of January of this year. With a leadership grounded in authenticity,
- collaboration, and a belief in the power of girls to be change makers,
- Dina has advanced the mission of Girl Scouts through strategic initiatives and leadership at both the
- local and national levels. A trusted innovator and proven servant leader, Dina has helped shape and
- grow Girl Scouting across central Indiana by strengthening community partnerships and building programs
- that empower girls with courage, confidence, and the character to lead. Please join us in welcoming
- Dina Potterf.
- Hello, Bloomington. Oh, my goodness. This feels like Girl Scout Day. And I am here for it. I am here
- for it. Thank you so much for having me. I'm not sure if you know I'm a proud Purdue graduate.
- And so thanks. Thank you, Bloomington, for that warm welcome. Love that. Love that. Right? So here we
- go. It is such an honor to be with you here today for Women's History Month.
- And today I'm going to share more about the power of mentorship to grow sustainable leadership in women.
- And it sounds like, and I know we do, have quite a few folks in this room who have wonderful experience
- developing future leaders. First to get us started, if you are a Girl Scout or a Girl Scout alum, if
- you're able, will you please stand? All my Girl Scouts, Girl Scout alum. Look at that. Look at that.
- It's more than half the room. Thank you, thank you. You may be seated.
- Okay. So I'd like to begin with a picture from nature. In forestry studies, there's something called
- a mother tree. She's often the largest, most mature tree in the forest, but her real power isn't in
- stretching highest towards the sun. Her power is in what you cannot see under the surface. Beneath the
- soil, she's connected to saplings and struggling plants through a vast, invisible network.
- Through that network, she sends nutrients, shares resources, and transmits chemical signals to help
- the young trees grow and help the whole forest stay resilient. She gives what she has quietly, steadily,
- intentionally, so the forest thrives long after she's gone. That to me is a perfect metaphor for what
- girls need today and for what we are called to do.
- If you've ever planted a young tree, you know it needs extra care at the beginning. More water, more
- protection, sometimes even a stake to help it grow up towards the sun. Girls and emerging leaders are
- no different. Early support matters. Encouragement matters. Having someone steady beside you in those
- early moments can shape everything that comes next. We, as advocates for women and girls, are stewards
- rooted in community, connected beneath the surface in ways that are often invisible, but always powerful.
- And we can be that system of support, linking our resources to help the next generation of leaders thrive
- and reach their full potential. Women have always been powerful stewards of the future, often quietly
- and consistently through presence and mentorship. And I know many of you in the room regularly mentor
- girls. We've been talking about it this morning.
- Whether it's in your professional role as an educator, a business leader, or public servant, or in a
- personal capacity as a caregiver or family or community member. Can I see a show of hands? How many
- of you are educators? Where are educators in the room? I know, I know you're here. Thank you, thank
- you so much for that. That's right, that's right. We have no idea what they do, I guarantee you. How
- many of you are caregivers? Where are my moms, dads, grandparents, right?
- So how many of you work with girls in another capacity? That's probably everybody else, right? We all
- touch in some way. So many of you in the room likely already know this. Girls in Indiana are navigating
- complex challenges, and they're also incredibly resilient. The Indiana Girl Report, we're in our third
- year for that, gives us data and direction. When we look at what girls in Indiana are telling us, one
- theme rises to the surface. They need connection.
- They need that understory beneath the forest, the support system that helps them grow strong enough
- to weather the challenges that they face. Here's what we know. Potential and pressure live side by side.
- Hoosier girls have unlimited potential, yet they're facing disproportionate challenges compared to their
- male peers. But they're real bright spots, too. Girls in Indiana continue to lead boys in earning more
- A's. Their dropout rate continues to decline, now under 5%.
- Right? And the graduation rate is more than one and a half percentage points higher than the national
- average, the highest rate in the past decade. But our girls are facing real challenges too. Ours is
- not just a girl issue. It's a workforce issue, a mental health issue, and a leadership pipeline issue
- that touches every sector of the state. And most importantly, the Indiana Girl Report is about listening
- to girls, not assuming we know what they need.
- If we want to understand how girls see the world and how the world sees them, we have to start listening
- to their voices. The Indiana Girl Report offers the most comprehensive, research-based view of the realities
- facing girls in Indiana. It integrates state and national data alongside insights from girls themselves.
- It surfaces urgent themes like mental health, mental health and anxiety, body image and self-esteem,
- leadership confidence,
- academic and career aspirations, and the influence of social media. It highlights strengths as much
- as challenges, because data without solutions can become a deficit story. As we like to say, this report
- doesn't just highlight gaps, it highlights their potential. Here's some key findings in the Indiana
- Girl Report. Girls are carrying a heavy mental load. The report also highlights something every adult
- in this room probably sees every day.
- Girls are growing up in a world that never turns off. They tell us the pressure to be perfect is relentless.
- And the comparison machine of social media only amplifies it. Compared with boys, girls report higher
- rates of bullying and cyberbullying. In fact, bullying at two times the rate of boys and cyberbullying
- at three times. With female bullying up 30%, 30% in the past year. Right? This isn't just the data.
- It's a signal that tells us that we need active engagement to help girls move forward. So one key takeaway,
- we cannot talk about academic achievement, leadership, or career pathways without addressing mental
- health head on. Many girls are spending hours a day online and that constant noise can sometimes lead
- to deeper feelings of anxiety or isolation. But here's the paradox. Connection is both the challenge
- and the solution.
- Because what girls are really craving isn't more notifications. It's meaningful relationships. They
- want to be truly seen. Hoosier girls have a leadership confidence gap. We see confidence dip in middle
- school, a time of intense identity formation. Many girls hesitate to call themselves leaders, even when
- they are already leading. The issue isn't talent or capability. The issue is support, access to role
- models, to real responsibility,
- to spaces where mistakes are treated as data, not destiny. Another key takeaway, leadership is not a
- title you wait to be given. It's a practice you grow, like roots, through opportunities to use your
- voice and try hard things with people who've got your back. Our girls are also struggling with body
- image and self worth. Body dissatisfaction now begins at younger ages, and it's directly linked to mental
- health and participation.
- When a girl doesn't feel confident in her own skin, it limits everything else. Whether she raises her
- hand, joins a team, tries robotics, or volunteers to lead, she has to be confident and comfortable in
- who she is. Here's another key takeaway. Programs that build healthy self-talk, media literacy, and
- body neutrality are not extras. They are prerequisites for participation in life. But there is hope.
- Indiana's girls are resilient
- Here's the part I want to shout from the rooftops. Girls care. They care deeply about community issues.
- They want to lead and make change. They're not disengaged. They're waiting to be invited in. One way
- our organization offers that invitation is through Girl Scout Gold Award projects, which improve communities
- and often launch careers of impact. When girls are trusted with real problems and real responsibility,
- they rise. So here's a final takeaway from the Indiana Girl Report.
- The opportunity gap is not a talent gap, it's an invitation gap. So how can we all help? Provide community,
- consistent mentoring, and adult allies who listen deeply before they try to fix anything. In nature,
- the network runs both ways. Saplings don't just receive, they also help nourish the older trees. Girls
- tell us the same is true in their lives when they're invited into meaningful communities like Girl Scout
- troops, teams, clubs, youth boards,
- their confidence grows. And they, in turn, energize the adults around them with fresh ideas and courage.
- This is why community is not a soft idea. It's a hard strategy. Small moments of encouragement, like
- you belong here. Your idea matters. We've got you no matter what. You can alter the direction of a life.
- Leadership grows in shared, interconnected networks, not in competitive silos. Women and girls thrive
- when we lift one another up, not when we stand alone.
- These are the roots that sustain a generation of changemakers. The Indiana Girl Report isn't just data,
- it's a driver of action. So here's what we're doing at Girl Scouts. With support from two Colts Kicking
- the Stigma grants, we're integrating mental health programming throughout our summer camps over the
- next two years. We're also hosting trainings and retreats for girls and adults, Girl Scouts, volunteers,
- and youth workers from statewide.
- so that the adults in a girl's life know how to be that steady, connected network that she can count
- on. Girls tell us they want to be seen as capable and not fragile. They want adults to listen more and
- fix less. They crave real conversations, not surface-level empowerment. And when we shift how we see
- girls, we shift what they believe about themselves. At Camp Delwood, our team is focused on STEM programming
- that introduces girls to STEM-related careers very early on.
- Ask most eight-year-olds what they want to be, and you'll often hear teacher, fabulous career,
- or veterinarian. Our miniature schnauzer pups love the veterinarian. They think that's very important,
- too. But our programs are widening the lens, providing more opportunities from coding and robotics to
- engineering and motorsports. Among our Girl Scouts, we're cultivating what I refer to as everyday leadership,
- the courage to use your voice and your experience to nurture others so they can grow.
- Leadership is not a spotlight, it's stewardship. We recently launched Girls in Gear, a program that
- opens the door to the world of motorsports. You don't have to be a race car driver to belong in that
- world. There are engineers, data scientists, safety innovators, logistics leaders, and more. We want
- girls to see it, name it, and believe, I can do that. The program was featured on NBC Nightly News Kids
- Edition, so let's take a look.
- You know, maybe, maybe not. Looks like we're working on it in the back there. Marissa? OK. All right.
- So that clip is available online. It is a fabulous clip, right? Go take a look. We're super excited.
- And we are very proud of the girls that are featured in it and the innovative programming. And come
- to Dulwood. Come to Cape Dulwood in Indianapolis, because you can see it in real time.
- Something new this year is the Indiana Girl Report is the addition of girls' voices. We listened to
- 91 girls across the state of Indiana, not just Girl Scouts. They told us what helps, social connections,
- a sense of community, there's that community word again, and support of adults who show up consistently.
- Over and over, girls named the invisible network that Girl Scouts provides, friends for life, and mentors
- who model empathy, collaboration, and generosity. They also told us what gets in their way, comparison,
- perfectionism, and the fear of failing in public. And when they told us what they want from us,
- they said, invite us in, trust us with real challenges, and stay with us when it's messy. Let me tell
- you about a couple of Indiana Gold Award Girl Scouts named Hope and Hazel. Hope grew up shy, smart,
- curious, but unsure of her voice. During 13 years in Girl Scouts, her confidence grew root by root,
- nurtured by supportive adults and meaningful opportunities.
- When it came time to choose her Gold Award project, she focused on something unexpected, sharks. Right?
- She realized kids learn to fear them before they ever learn the science behind them. So Hope designed
- two full STEM curricula on shark conservation, now used across the schools where she grew up. She spent
- 95 hours creating hands-on lessons that replaced fear with curiosity, introducing hundreds of students
- to real scientific thinking.
- Today, Hope's work lives on in classrooms every semester. She changed hearts, shaped minds, and showed
- what happens when a girl is trusted with real problems to solve. That is what leadership looks like.
- This is what happens when we listen to girls and invite them in. Let me also share Hazel's story. She
- moved to Bloomington from Montana. Because of the community and friendships she developed, she stayed
- connected with her former troop and built her Girl Scout Gold Award project in Monroe and Greene counties.
- Her project, the Indiana Prevention Project, focused on early substance use prevention for youth using
- public art, social media, and youth engagement. Drawing on inspiration from a Paint the State drug prevention
- mural program from Montana, she designed a social media campaign and website for youth in Monroe and
- Greene counties to create and submit public art designs raising awareness of substance abuse risks.
- Hazel collaborated with local organizations
- city officials, and schools to secure support and resources. And then she established a nonprofit to
- secure funding, including an award for the winning youth design. Hazel launched a school-based mural
- action club to engage students in community art and prevention activities. And she set up plans with
- local business to host a second mural contest featuring a graffiti artist, ensuring ongoing sustainability.
- Now, I don't know about you, but when I was 16 or 17 years old, I probably wasn't doing that.
- Like, that's fabulous, right? Lastly, I'd like to share the story of Girl Scout Jemma, who lives just
- a little north of us in Bartholomew County. Her Bronze Award project focuses on helping the girls in
- her school feel safe and supported. Jemma noticed that some of the girls at school didn't have access
- to hygiene products like deodorant or pads, and they were too embarrassed to ask for help. She talked
- with her school counselor and nurse, and they confirmed this was a real need for the girls in the school.
- After further discussing the issue with her peers,
- Jemma developed a carrying cart that would allow girls to privately get access to the hygiene supplies
- they needed. The carrying cart was placed in the girls' restroom and included toothpaste, toothbrushes,
- deodorant, brushes, hair ties, pads, and more. She even included a request box so girls can request
- the things they need that aren't already on the cart. Jemma funded her project through donations from
- local businesses and by making and selling earrings and slime at a craft market.
- I know, right? That's what leadership looks like, though. That's what happens when girls want
- real responsibility and community networks show up and help girls thrive. Here's what this means for
- each of us. If the mother tree reminds us that leadership is a shared subterranean network, then each
- of us has a role to play in strengthening the soil around girls. For parents and caregivers, listen
- without judgment. Ask more questions than you have answers.
- Normalize healthy risk-taking. Celebrate the try, not just the trophy. Model healthy self-talk. Let
- her hear how you respond to your own mistakes with curiosity, not contempt. Normalize healthy risk-taking.
- Model healthy self-talk. Let her hear how you respond to your own mistakes with curiosity, not contempt.
- We covered that one. All right, here we go. For educators and youth-serving professionals,
- Create spaces for girls to lead and to fail safely. You all just did that for me in this moment, and
- I appreciate that. Notice the quiet leaders. Give them roles that matter, not just the tasks that are
- tidy. Build communities of support where girls can be their authentic selves. The goal is not to polish
- perfection, it's to cultivate their courage. For business and community leaders, mentor a girl. Your
- lived experience is what the network needs. Invest in early leadership development.
- The pipeline begins long before the internship does. Support Girl Scouts of Central Indiana, you know
- I had to. Your partnership helps us scale mental health programming, STEM pathways, and opportunities
- like Girls in Gear that expand what girls believe is possible. When girls thrive, our communities thrive.
- That isn't just a slogan, it's an economic and civic truth. So, remember, the mother tree's influence
- is quiet and consistent.
- It looks like small moments, steady mentoring, a text that says, you belong, a meeting where we step
- back so a girl can step forward. It looks like shared power, not power over, but power with others.
- This is how forests grow resilient. This is how communities do too. I believe that women and girls have
- limitless possibilities to change the world. And that is what happens when we tap into that powerful
- network of support. I can still point to women in my life who changed my trajectory.
- Thanks for inviting me to say the word Karen Wolford, the person who meant so much in my life as a mentor.
- Sometimes they don't even realize it. There were mentors who saw leadership potential in me and called
- me to serve at a greater level, saying, I see something in you, Dina, something you might not even realize
- is there yet. There were women who spoke my name in rooms I wasn't even in, as the mayor mentioned as
- well, leading to moments of opportunity and growth, women who time and time again showed me that their
- belief in my capacity to do good in this world would never fade.
- And today, as the leader of our amazing organization, I am reciprocating that energy, demonstrating
- trust in the future leaders I'm helping to develop, speaking up and saying their names in every room
- I'm in, saying, hey, you know who's good at that? You know who really deserves this opportunity? Have
- you talked to this person? That's what we do as Girl Scouts. We say again and again, we know who you
- are. We know what we stand for. We know our girls have what it takes to lead.
- be the very best of us. From helping a girl pursue an award, to writing a formal recommendation letter,
- to making a casual comment that opens up her perspective of the possibilities available to her. To helping
- her have an experience or an adventure that changes everything. That's mentorship. Sometimes it's just
- someone saying, I see something in you, go try it. Don't doubt yourself for one second. When one woman
- invests in another, the impact doesn't double. It multiplies across communities.
- workplaces, and generations across forests. Girls and young women are navigating a world that is more
- connected, but also so much more complex and uncertain. Confidence gaps, representation gaps, and opportunity
- gaps still exist. Mentorship helps close those gaps, not someday, but in real time. Because our girls
- understand the challenges of today's world, it's critical for us to start supporting and investing in them now
- so they're ready to answer the call of leadership in the future. Before we close, here are three things
- you can do this month. Invite a girl into a real problem. Ask her, what's one thing you'd change at
- school, in our neighborhood, or online? Be careful, because then, partner with her to make a plan. Help
- her put it into action. Name what you see. Tell a girl specifically what she did that demonstrated leadership.
- You organized the team's ideas. You stayed calm when the plan failed. You lifted someone else's voice.
- And help her find her network. Connect her to a troop, a STEM event at Camp Delwood, or a community
- project like Girls in Gear where she can try, learn, and belong. The forest you and I will walk through
- years from now, healthier, taller, more resilient, with the work of what we do today beneath the surface.
- In Indiana, we have everything we need
- bright, determined girls, caring adults just like you, data points us along the way, and a community
- ready to act. Let's be the network. Let's steward the future together. Thank you so much for your time
- and commitment to the girls and women that we serve. And lastly, here's a quick note. Will you please
- take a moment to scan? We have QR codes coming up here. Here we go. QR codes.
- That will take you right to the Indiana Girl Report. You may download your own copy. Please refer to
- that often, because we believe there's really great data in there that can help support our girls. So
- thanks again, and I hope you have a wonderful afternoon. Thank you, Bloomington.
- Thank you so much for that amazing keynote address, Dina. We are so grateful for the presence of Girl
- Scouts in our local Indiana communities. I'm Hannah Chudley. And I am Cece Swalley. We are commissioners
- on the Bloomington Commission on the Status of Women. We'd like to take a moment to recognize the sponsors
- who made this amazing event possible today. It certainly doesn't happen without support.
- Our 2026 presenting sponsor is the city of Bloomington. It's said to wait for a pause. Our 2026 platinum
- sponsor is the South Central Community Action Program, SCCAP. Our 2026 gold sponsor is Cook Medical.
- And our bronze sponsors are Girls Inc. of Monroe County, the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce,
- and the League of Women Voters, Bloomington Monroe County. The Commission on the Status of Women was
- also the recipient of a generous grant this year that made this event possible from the Smithville Charitable
- Foundation. The grant was specifically for this luncheon, and we could not be more grateful.
- So a big thank you to the Smithville charitable foundation. We appreciate you Lastly we want to express
- our sincere appreciation to our event partners who made this day such a success Thank you to the Monroe
- Convention Center staff and caterers marquees rental and staging nature's way and
- and the City of Bloomington Community and Family Resources Department staff, we appreciate your support
- and collaboration. And of course, we'd like to thank the Girl Scouts of Central Indiana's local team
- for their continued partnership and for donating the Girl Scout cookies you have on your tables today.
- Please make sure to take a box.
- As we close our 2026 Women's History Luncheon, we want to thank each and every one of you for being
- here today. You were part of the magic that made today happen. Today we celebrated incredible women,
- honored lasting legacies, and we're reminded that this work of advancing equity and opportunity continues
- because of all of us. Charlotte Zietlow once said, you don't wait for change. You create it together.
- Her spirit and the spirit of that statement live on in this room today to our award winners our speakers
- our event partners and each of you. Thank you for showing up. Thank you for making a more sustainable
- future. Take this energy home with you. Keep building. Keep advocating and keep leading. Thank you and
- have a wonderful afternoon.