Girl Scouting in the USA began on March 12, 1912, when Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low assembled 18 girls from Savannah, Georgia for a local Girl Scout meeting. Ms. Low’s vision of a girl-centered organization was soon realized, and by the 1920s, girls in Orange County were already starting to benefit from the Girl Scout program. Small councils were established in Anaheim, Newport Harbor, and Santiago.



As Girl Scouting grew, the various small councils in Orange County recognized the need to maximize resources and subsequently consolidated to form the Girl Scout Council of Orange County, which received its charter in 1968. Membership in Orange County has grown to nearly 25,000 girls, 13,000 registered adults, 8,000 of whom are active volunteers.



The Girl Scout Council of Orange County is part of a vast sisterhood of nearly four million girls and adults who belong to the Girl Scouts of the United States of America. In fact, more than 50 million women in the U.S. today are Girl Scout alumnae.



Like all great organizations, Girl Scouting has continued to evolve to keep up with the times, and today is providing the nation’s most successful leadership development and personal growth experiences for girls, 5 – 17.



In 2005, the entire Girl Scout movement adopted a new mission statement: Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.



The new Mission Statement serves as a compass, pointing us toward our goals to create bold new programs for girls of all age levels, races, ethnicities, beliefs, economies, and physical abilities



Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA) is the preeminent leadership development organization for girls with 3.6 million girl and adult members worldwide. Girl Scouts is the leading authority on girls' healthy development. The organization serves girls from every corner of the United States and its territories. GSUSA also serves American girls and their classmates attending American or international schools overseas in 90 countries.