As Girl Scouts around the world prepare to kick off their second century, discover what’s new, and what remains the same, in the organization that was founded eight years before U.S. women got the right to vote.

Some 3.2 million girls, and millions of alumnae, are gearing up to celebrate the 100th birthday of the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) on March 12, 2012, and it’s an impressive group. About 80 percent of America’s female business owners and executives are Girl Scouts alumnae, as are 58 percent of U.S. Congresswomen and 22 percent of NASA’s career astronauts.

“But we’re not just celebrating 100 years of existence,” says Christine Posey, director of leadership experience for the Badgerland Council of GSUSA, in Wisconsin. “We’re kicking off the next century of Girl Scouting.”

Indeed, the organization has shored up its structure, revamped its curriculum, updated its lingo and repositioned itself to carry on its mission: Building girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place.

“Girl Scouting hasn’t changed, but the vocabulary and curriculum have,” says Posey. “We’re a leadership organization. We help girls to become strong young women, to connect with each other and the world. But as girls have evolved, so, too, has the organization. Just think how much girls, and their roles in society, have changed over the past century.”

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Tags: badgerland council, century, elgin, girl scouts, girls, madison, pecatonica, rockford, women

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