The partnership between the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) and Johnson & Johnson launched in February 2023, where Johnson & Johnson supported WAGGGS’s first ever webinar series on STEM.
The webinar series was in response to a global STEM consultation WAGGGS conducted in 2022 to better understand what girls and young women from across the Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting Movement felt about STEM. That year, out of WAGGGS’ 152 Membership Organisations (countries that deliver Girl Guiding), an impressive 109 got involved in a STEM survey. Engagement and interest from girls and young women on the topic of STEM were high too, over 8,000 girls and young women took part in a Girl Led STEM activity pack at unit level. The resounding message was clear – we want to learn more and advocate on better access to STEM!
Featuring fun STEM related activities and hearing from inspirational women who have successfully forged a career in STEM fields the webinar series created an exciting, stimulating learning experience for girls and young women from around the globe. Speakers included a Global Medical and Scientific Affairs Lead from Johnson & Johnson and a Girl Guide Advocacy Champion who is now a Food Scientist. Both spoke about their careers but also some of the barriers and challenges they faced, plus what they felt needed to change to give more girls and young women the opportunity to pave the way in STEM. It reached a staggering 6,000 young people and received great feedback.
As a result of this success, in September 2023, WAGGGS and Johnson & Johnson partnered on a brand-new project, launching WAGGGS first ever STEM programme at Sangam, WAGGGS’s World Centre in Pune, India. The programme began with three young women from the Girl Guiding Movement taking part in a three-month STEM Volunteer Leadership Placement at Sangam. They were tasked to use their creativity and passion for STEM and with the support of the WAGGGS team, STEM technical partner Greenlight for Girls and WiSTEM2D a suite of STEM resources provided by Johnson & Johnson to create Sangam's first STEM Discovery Day programme for visiting Girl Guides and Girl Scouts and local community partners in Pune.
In 2024, this programme has been further adapted into activities that can be completed online through Campfire, which means now anyone can access the Discovering STEM Dashboard and complete WAGGGS first ever STEM activities.