Transcripts For CSPAN3 Influential Women Of The West 20150208

The mate told us afterwards that he could not help but think of the difference in what he saw in manila and what we had done by bringing over cargo to rebuild the country. The merchant marine was a weapon of peace, too. Our locomotives had pulled him ready to issue the fight. We had left the fight behind us here. The voyage of victory was complete. The engineer gets his orders. The best of luck to you. So, we upped the hook and headed home for more. It has been a victory for the town of hannibal. For all the hometowns of america. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2015] coming up next, two influential women who grew up in the west. Sandra day oconnor and on a maria chavez, ceo of the girl scouts of the usa. They discussed their mentors career paths and upbringing in the u. S. And how it shaped them as individuals. The Public Square and the smithsonian hosted this event at the smithsonian. It is about one hour. Thank you so much. It is a pleasure to be here and introduce our guests. I will jump into that quickly and get this started. Sandra day oconnor is retired associate justice for the United States Supreme Court. The first woman to be appointed to the court, the first female geordie leader in the state senate. Several listed her among the most powerful women in the world. She was awarded the president ial of freedom by president barack obama. Welcome. [applause] there is one other item i want to mention in my history and that is that for a time i was president of the museum. And i really enjoyed it. I love the museum. I am glad to welcome you here. Perfect. We have another phoenix connection. A Phoenix High School graduate on a maria chavez, who began her career journey in the same movement she now leads, the girl scouts. Since 2011 she has been the ceo of the girl scouts of the usa. She worked for the former arizona governor, janet napolitano. Prior to that she worked in the clinton administration. Thank you. [applause] so, i thought we would start at the heart of the matter. Asking each of you to reflect a bit on your career path and talk about growing up here in arizona in the west, creating opportunities for you, helping to shape who you are. Justice oconnor . I cannot imagine having grown up anyplace else except the southwest. I am a ranch girl who grew up on a cattle ranch on the arizona mexico border. That is about as remote as you can get. You would not be thinking of it from that ranch. The brand was a b lying down, making it lazy. That is where i grew up. It was started out there by my grandfather in about 1880. I father then took over management of the ranch and was doing that over the years that i grew up. The only problem was school. We did not have a school nearby. It was impractical and my mother did not really think that the schools were that good in those little towns. Instead they were passed to el paso, texas. My grandmother was a nonstop talker. If her eyes were open, her lips were moving. [laughter] it created quite a problem for all of those years, but somehow we survived and i graduated from grade school and high school. A major good listener . I think so. We have one kind of amazing thing from when i was there, a visit to the cliff Radford School for girls by Eleanor Roosevelt. We all put on our best dresses at the crack of dawn and the limousine drove up and the one thing was that i did not dare to tell my father. He did not like franklin roosevelt. I did not dare mention that she was coming to my school. I dont know how, but i never mentioned it to my father. Sounds funny. Great story. I had a similar story, i grew up in the great state of arizona in a small farm town one hour south of here. It is called eloi, arizona. Thank you, thank you. [laughter] as a kid i told everyone it was the epicenter of the universe and little did i know that the demographers said that that was right. It is the center of population growth now. Long story short, i grew up in a beautiful farm town. My parents raised us there. I loved it because it was a great combination of being outside and we had Great Teachers that really cared about us. I was the middle child, with two brothers and i was constantly trying to play games with them. I was always trying to be part of the club. One day i decided i was going to be the general of the army that day and they said no, you have to collect the berries. I said i did not like that. So, i started my own club. One day my best friend came to school in said i like your club but i think there is a better club, the girl scouts. So, we joined a girl scout troop and it was a Diverse Group of girls. They took me camping which freaked out my grandmother at the time, because i told her i was going to go out camping and lay in the dirt and so, no. We do not do that. Then i told them about the inner firm uniform and they said no. First of all, they just came from migrant camp, they told me i was not going back. Long story short, at the age of 12 i learned about Environmental Justice to actually change the world and protected for other kids. Protect it for other kids. Female role models during the stage of growing up . My mother. My aunts would lay down the law. My father ultimately to huge role, he is here so played a huge role, he is here this evening, they knew they had to invest in my future and make sure that education was paramount. Between the girl scouts and my parents, anything was possible and they gave me the confidence to do what i wanted to do. My parents were strong believers in education. That was the thing that drove opportunity for women or any others in those days. It was the equalizer. Who were your role models growing up . My parents. Grandmother . She was a nonstop talker. [laughter] if her eyes were opened, her lips were moving, and i had to learn to say yes, grandmother, though grandmother at all of the right times no grandmother at all the right times. When using to your childhood trauma is the reviews of advice when you think of your childhood, is there a piece of advice you heard that serve you well. There was something from my grandmother, she said that a lot is given and marches were wired. That much is required much is required. If you have a particular talent, you are responsible for opportunities for other people. Volunteerism is a big part of my family, parents volunteered and we volunteered and i am glad they did that because nowadays you look around and see the need in the communities, you need more people to share talents and that is why i love the girls scouts because we teach them to be of service. Courts you have any advice you have any advice . We had to work hard at the ranch. There were not opportunities for service, you are to work hard. Had to work hard. We were talking backstage, no gender roles on the ranch. No. Just a lot of hard work. Get it done. That is right. So, as you left your childhood and moved into professions, both of you ended in the law. You decided that 12 . At 12, yes. I wasnt child was and odd child. One of the things i am so grateful for, the adults, whether teachers or the local catholic parish, the consistently told us about opportunities. Although at the time there were barriers for people and they were there for me as well, i literally had a literally blocking and tackling literally blocking and tackling for me adults literally blocking and tackling for me. As i got older and went on to yale and entered places where i became the first of things, i realized my path was different. It gives you more of an impetus to say, you have gotten this far, you better bring people with you. Just like people opened doors for me, i have been kicking down doors for other people. That is a good story. It is a good story. And you certainly have a lot of first as well. Yes. Just hereunder. Here and there. [laughter] talked about that. Talk about that. First, in the state legislature as the minority leader, you were the first in arizona and the first of the country, is that right . I dont know. But i enjoyed my experience in the legislature because you can see the problems and try to develop solutions to some of those problems and that was really excited to get to work on things like that, i enjoyed it. It was a great privilege. One of the things that i read is that you went through arizona law to look at it from a gender perspective. I went through every statute we had prior to take out gender discrimination provisions and introduce something and was glad to be able to do it. You remember how long it took . Worked on it for several months i worked on it for several months. I think it was an admirable priority. It was a good thing to do and every state had to go through the process but i was happy to kick arizona out in the open and get it going. [applause] to [laughter] [laughter] and that is part of growing up in the west, it seems like there are more gender opportunities in western states. To about growing up in arizona. Think about growing up in arizona. It is an honor to be obvious to justice, she has been my role model on the stage with justice, she has been my role model. [applause] through enough, wanting to be a growing all, want to growing up, wanting to be a lawyer and having her on the Supreme Court. I was nominated to be an attorney in front of the u. S. Supreme court and you have to be nominated by an attorney who is also a member of the bar. You go and you are in this amazing courtroom, the most powerful and, this is mecca for your, this is for a lawyer, this is mecca. And my mentor says he is so proud to nominate anna chavez from the great state of arizona and the justice looks down at me and winks. [applause] [laughter] i have to tell you, that was pretty cool. Good to get her there. That is right. That is right. During that time, did you have more women or more men supporting you . And i know the answer is. Both. I have a lot of africanamerican men and women supporting me. What i have found is that the Africanamerican Community spent a lot of time, as the Latino Community did as well, pushing issues through the educational system because it is an equalizer, you can change a generational cycle in your family from poverty to influence. What i found is there were people ahead of me in my career and many of them were africanamerican gentleman who were lawyers and those were the ones helping me figure out how to look at the course of my career, specifically in washington d. C. , which give us a lot of opportunities to work in government. Still, many of them are in my life. Did you find a job in washington d. C. . , straight out of law school. I did, straight out of law school. Working for president clinton and the department of transportation. He brought the highway commissioner, an attorney from little rock, he was the first attorney to serve as the administrator of the federal highway administration. He knew, based on everything they did with the trust fund, that you could take that money and invest it in local communities and change lives so they were the first ones to judge a chance at higher me and it was the best experience take a chance and higher me and it was the best experience. There were some roads in arizona that could use that. [laughter] did you figure out how to do that . I did my lobbying. Everyone knew i was from arizona. That was an easier for job experience than you had, justice oconnor. What are you thinking of . After you graduated from stanford. I got a job at the county Attorneys Office in San Mateo County california, redwood city. I apply for jobs when i got out of law school and i have done well at stamford, i could not get a job offer, no one wanted to talk to me. In those days, law firms were not hiring women and i had a very hard time getting an offer in those days and in fact did not. I took the offer i got from the county Attorneys Office in San Mateo County but i loved my job and was happy to do that. I went back to a reunion six months ago at the office and it was fun to go back in and see how it was. Please tell us there were more women there. Yes. [laughter] that is good. So as you are making your way through your early career, were you aware even then you were a role model . Know, i just thought in terms of, and my going to get a job . Am i going to get a job . [laughter] my nice husband got drafted and he was sent overseas, sent to germany, and that was exciting because we have never been any place before so that was ok. It did not help Employment Opportunities a whole lot. Did you work as an attorney in germany . Yes, i did. I got a job in the quartermaster corps. There were huge efforts in those days in frankfurt to get rid of some of the property that we have assembled to try to put in europe to win the cold war. We had decided we had wanted so we had to won it so we were trying to get rid of the property but we did not want it going behind the iron curtain so that was challenging. We had to provisions of the contracts but there was put provisions in the contract but there was no way to force it. Were you the only female there as well . In that office. You remember the first office you were in that had more than one woman . I do not remember what it was but it took a while, 20 years or so. [laughter] a good reason to not remember. Your inner circle at that time must have been largely male. Yes absolutely. Definitely. One of the things that we sometimes forget when we talk about Women Supporting Women is how important men are two that as well. Absolutely. Want to go back to both of you. Who have you found yourself admiring, hollowing. Following . Who were your female models early in your career . I did not have any early ones. I do remember a funny story when i was going to school at el paso, the headmistress had met Eleanor Roosevelt and she had invited Eleanor Roosevelt to come and speak at bRadford Schools if she was in the el paso area. Darned if she did not show up and agreed to speak. It was a very funny experience for me because my parents were produced from republicans pretty strong republican. Roosevelt was not high on the list of people to support. If there was anyone worse, it was Eleanor Roosevelt. I did not want my parents to know she was coming to the school, i did everything i could to prevent that. I will never forget the day that she came and we were all lined up to see the car when she arrived, a long black car. She got out and she was very gracious and serious and it was nice, it was wonderful actually. I went away impressed but i could not impress my father. I did not want him to know anything about it. A thing about it. 10 years from now or 15 years from now, there will be people talking about their stories about rape women arriving and you will be 1 great women arriving and you will be one of those. Possibly. [applause] coming back to the topic of women in the west and whether or not women had it easier, and i suspect that is a relative term. That is something we would agree. There are interesting numbers that i pulled. Foremost western states, less than half of four most western states, less than half of the women are married. Divorced rates are above the average and larger rates of women that have never married and homeownership. I thought to myself, are women in the west just more independent than women in other parts of the country . You have lived in other parts of the country. That is one element but i suspect they have to work a little harder to get and keep jobs because there are not many available for women in the west as i knew it growing up. We were requiring hard, physical labor and so forth more than i think eastern states. I wonder if that is a factor. In physical labor, it may be. We have to rely on health differently. Other than flagstaff the urban centers are phoenix and tucson so the job market is smaller. I live on the east coast now and there are so many people and opportunities and communities are close together. I think we have passed progressive laws early on, we have Community Property laws in arizona in the west, i think we have laid down a few opportunities. I also think that when you are trying to your life together, you are looking for opportunities not just for yourself but your family. I am fortunate to have a very cute husband. [laughter] he is very wonderful but he has moved three times. He is taking care of our son. But he has followed me three times in my career. For me, i have been very fortunate in that matter but i have had to move for my career, to ensure that there were opportunities for my family. I think women are progressive on that especially nowadays. The economy has gotten harder. It is certainly not easy to move for his poses clear whether male or female, it is happening a spouses career whether male or female, it is happening more now. You had that experience when president reagan called. Yes, my husband had to move when i went to washington. Was there any doubt . Well, i gave him a choice, he didnt have to. [laughter] but you thought it was a pretty good offer and i should say yes he thought it was a pretty good offer and i should say yes. [laughter] smart man. One of the things that happens when you are first is that people call you a token. Have you thought of yourself that way . I have never been called a token. I feel like you sense it, you may not get the same invitations to different events. Annual networks are built differently. And your networks are built differently. I think we are tenacious, we make opportunities happen. That is the way i was raised, we were both raised in rural arizona and you have to make your way. A lot of people are counting on you. Great role models that pick up their skirts and keep moving that is what we do. You have to learn to love the cow you have to learn to milk the cow. [laughter] such a practical approach. The cow knows no gender. February thought of yourself in that you meet i use the term token which is often a negative term. No, i didnt. I came along at a time when women had not had the opportunity. I have positions that were interesting so it was ok. A lot of publications name do as one of the most powerful name you one of the most powerful women in the world. I try not to read that garbage. [laughter] you dont have to read it and you do not have to believe it, either. I actually have experienced similar. When i was in san antonio, texas, i was running a local girl scout council. An amazing job. I got a request to lead the national organization, the day that it happened they flew a team from new york to san antonio to deal with media interviews. I happened to be the first woman of color to lead the organization. I get home and i am noticing, i have read for sandwiches. M out of bread for sandwiches. That night, i am at target. [laughter] my son has lost a tooth, i have to buy him a lego, my husband is out of deodorant. The was traveling. He was traveling. I was checking out and on the stand was People Magazine and i was on the cover. I was chuckling to myself and the woman at the register is noticing i am laughing and i tell her the story and she says, i dont know about you lady, but i would be out having steak and champagne. [laughter] that is funny. As a mother, you keep going. And that is why worklife balance becomes something that women talk about. Men, not so much, in my experience. My husband and i have those discussions, i was talking to him last night he was coming from North Carolina and rushing home to be there for my son. I am going to be on a 6 a. M. Flight so i can be there for our son 6 00 a. M. Flight so i can be there for our son. I think we were all raised metal god is too small. That no job is too small. Some of my first mentors in the law, i thought i was going to graduate and rule the world and go off to represent stars in l. A. My first job as a lawyer, was as a law clerk. My job was to do the files and when the receptionist had to go on break or vacation, guess who got that job . As an attorney, i have Great Respect for everyone that touches a case file, that works on a matter for a client, because i have seen all sides of that job and i think that is what is so beautiful nowadays when i work with youth is that you can teach them early on there is no job that is beneath us and regardless of where you are, the waiter serving you a meal, the farmworker who has picked cotton, we all have to respect one another. That is what is so powerful in a western state, on a farm, it does not matter who you are, we are all equal. Having said that, i started my career in civil rights so i do believe and this is why i am passionate about the law that there are barriers for certain people and people have had to write down barriers and laws have been implemented to ensure all people have opportunity. I was sure a story about the founder of the girl scouts. Here is a woman in 1912 in Savannah Georgia who decides to create an organization to empower girls reedit this is before women have the right to vote. They called her crazy daisy. She was teaching girls to play basketball in her backyard, she taught them to create ideas through engineering, to fly planes. She had to do that because at the time, society did not put the same value in girls. And i think we still have a way to go. I was going to ask, looking at even things like charitable donations which are so much less can we have that discussion . I would love to have that discussion. First of all, what i am astonished about is that as i talk on behalf of girls and women, they say, makes little girl scouts, so nice. Nice little girl scouts, so nice. Id tell them about how girls stop raising their hands because they do not want to be called bossi. When they look at the sphere of influence they do not see female role models and talk themselves out of opportunities. There is a reason i thought about Supreme Court justice oconnor, iv girls to see her. I need girls to see her. When you invest in a girl, you invest in that family. Right now unfortunately, if you look at the billions of dollars invested across the country only 7 go to grow and woman causes. Role and woman causes girl and woman causes. Today, people invest more into animal causes them womans causes. I love animals, i have a cat, i have no problem with animals. But i venture to guess that the first presiden female president of the United States will be a girl scout. [applause] and she deserves that investment. Is the same proof or volunteer hours proof or volunteer hours true for volunteer hours . Yes. There is a perception that girls do not want to be girl scouts and our numbers have not grown and it is not relevant. The reality is i have 30,000 girls on a wait list right now. Anywhere i go in the country are girls who are raising their hands. And you are short of leaders . What are we going to do about that . Short of adults. We need some scout leaders. [applause] and the proof is in the pudding, we have 59 million alums. 70 of Women Business owners. If you look at congress right now, the u. S. Senate, 70 of them are girl scout alums, the women. 54 of the women in the u. S. House of representatives, girl scouts. Almost every single female governor. Would you say it is true of the boy scouts as well . Absolutely, it is an entire network. But my concern is building the pipeline. Investing in girls at that age, six western states, arizona being one of them, comprise a third of the women in the house. And to the three states that have both female senators are western states. And start as girl scouts. As we talked about girls and how we invest, one of the things that i wonder is let me just ask. How many in the audience were girl scout . Wow. A lot of hands are up. You are western women and girl scouts. What i wonder is what the girls were in girl scouts today, what friendly are starting who are in girl scouts today, what friend are they starting trend are they starting . The number one thing that comes to our mind, these are young women that are not waiting to make a difference. They are so elegant eloquent, they come from neighborhoods all over the country. I had the great pleasure of digging a girl scout from the navajo reservation to the oval Office Taking a girl scout from the navajo reservation to the oval office. She visited with the president to talk about issues impacting girls. What is she doing today . She has gone off to college and is literally changing the face of not only the future of her tribe but what it means to be an american woman. I could not have been prouder, i stood back and let her talk to the president because they clearly know what they want to accomplish. What i love seeing is that they are global citizens. When i grew up, my backyard was my world. Today, girls they open their laptop and they are communicating with girls in tanzania. So their lives are so different. Their boundaries are less clear. It is actually fuzzy. I think the growing demographic shift in the country race is going to be not as much up an indicator of success. It is going to be gender. Thatss what im watching. Because . Because gender is easily an easily identifiable indicator of who you are for certain matters. As we become multiracial, you are not going to be able to put Anna Maria Chavez in a box anymore. I think it will be an equalizer but i think it will be an opportunity for women to talk more about how women look at leadership differently. We have a whole different view of leadership. We are not as much topdown. Now the girl scout population is not increasing because you do not have enough scout leaders . Correct. So, if you have grandchildren or children out there who are old enough to be scout leaders get em going. We need men to volunteer as well. Absolutely. [applause] so, if you were retiring from the court, you saw a lot more women yes. What, besides so, if you were retiring from the more, what was the biggest difference you saw in women and their professional progression during your career . Just theyre o ut there and they do a great job for you just have to give them a chance. I saw many talented women come to the court of advocates in cases the court was hearing. And they made many effective arguments. I did not go back and say, gee if she had been a man, she could have done that better. Generally speaking, they did just as well as men on their arguments and presentations and their written briefs. So, i think there are doing great. Some will say that women have to be better than men. Do you share that view . No. But they have to be up there and the equal in ability, and they are. There is no question about it. I think it is about perception. We did a study about boys and girls in the United States their perception about running for office. And it was interesting to see the data and it shows the majority of boys and girls wsaw it was harder for women to run for public office. And when we asked girls, with a be an elected official . They said no, because of how women arbitrate in the media. It gets personal. My concern is i do not think it is harder i think both boys and girls are intelligent. There is perception. Girls are saying no before the opportunities present themselves. They are not taking the courses. For us, it is not just a gender issue. We ensure that have the population is in the game. If you noticed we have tough issues facing this country and we need everybody around those tables, whether it is the academic tables, the state legislature. We need everybody in the game because i have traveled recently to china. I have been another countries. They are investing in their children and in their education. How we going to ensure this great country that gave us these amazing opportunities . We have a whole generation that are going to have the same opportunities because we have the same standing in this economic world that we are living in. So im excited to see what happens but it is about breaking down those perceptions. I want to go back to something you said about girls talking themselves out of it because that has certainly been the case for generations, right . Why is that . Why do you think that girls or women talk themselves out of their potential . Well, i think first of all, i think you can tell that were kind of feisty. Even if somebody told us not to do something, we would we have got to do it. I also think when you come from less you know, you have less to risk. So, you know . If you see opportunities, it is not like youre coming from a lot. There are more opportunities on the other side. If it is something new and they do not see a role model, they do not see other girls on the other side of the table, they are less apt to try that new thing. That is why the number one indicator for success for girls is the role model in their life. And if you look at the stem careers, the number one factor for a girl wanting to pursue those careers is the male figure in the household. So it is not just what women are saying to girls and other women. It is what men are also doing. And sharing with them. Mmhmm. Does that resonate with you . To some extent it that was not my experience. What was your experience . I ju made up my mind what i wanted to do and did its. It was ok. I didnt find that iwas at was a big battle to be able to get out there and run for elective office. It was ok. I think people were glad to have some gender diversity on the ballot. Its ok. So, when you are running for office in arizona yo uhad contested elections . Yes. You won easily both . With a good margin. And um, do you recall ever running against a female . Yeah, you had to do some of that too, but i did not have any pitched battles against them because there were not that many women trying to run. Your chances were youre going to be running against some man. So, did you have friends or family members who talks themselves out of what you throu saw as their potential . I dont think so. So that is that western sensibility. Absolutely. It is a very practical approach to things. Yes. The work needs to get done. Put your head down and work. Thats right. Yeah. And i dont know why, because one does not have to do with the other but what popped into my head as we were talking about that is some of the campaigns you have started to change somehave been to women through the years. A good friend of mine who wrote a book. I had run into her. She is a girl scout. You knmow, i had run into her a few times and i was sitting at my desk in new york city and the phone rang and it was cheryl hurray she said, we have got to do something. Shes like this word, bossy. We have got to ban it. Cheryl ok, but that is hard to do. But we can get this done. So we called up a friend of hers who condoleezza rice. Shes fabulous. Also a girl scout from alabama. Very impressive. She put together a group of individual movie stars elected officials, arne duncan and we started a campaign called ban bossy. Ban boxing . Ban bossy. Ban the word bossy. Because what we are finding is that girls agiain, every time they raise their hand or say they want to control something they are labeled bossy. We found that actually more than 70 of the time when a girl is called bossy it is not a little boy. Its a girl. So its on girl on girl crime. Can we stop saying when a woman or girl is sharing her opinion or trying to run for class office that she is not trying to be bossy. She is just trying to live her dream and her potential. So we did. And it was astounding. The campaign went global. And it really started a dialogue had what was interesting. We have people that disagreed with us which i enjoyed because never before did i hear people talking about the concept of girls and leadership and banning a word. It started this whole dialogue about the need for adults to understand that they have a huge impression on children. And their potential. And so we have got to be careful with our words. In raising a 12yearold boy and 2 million girls, i i realize that what we do every day that allows a boy or girl to fill their opportunities. And i do mark my words now to ensure im positive. And that i also when i talk about myself, although i have two brothers who make fun of me, i do understand the way to responsibility the weight of responsibility we have. It is not a stretch to get a newspaper publisher to believe that words matter. Im getting the time signal over here. So i think im going to end with a question about words. So when you were a role model and you have the kind of distinct which careers that both of you have, you have a lot of labels that are given to you. Whats your favorite label . What do you most like when people refer to as i did not mind being called the justice. Thats ok. Very good. How do you top that . I like it. Try it. You might like it she says. Very good. I have the pleasure the girl scouts call me eagle one. Yes. So that is fun. I enjoy that. Thats very good. Well, i think we are going to turn to taking questions from the audience. Indeed. We could let you guys go on for hours, but we did leave some time for some questions from all of you. There are two of us going around with microphones. Racer hand and we will pick you up to come to the microphone. Say your first and last name before your question. We have our cameras back there. Cspan is here. They will be rebroadcasting the show for American History tv at a later date. Danielle has got the first question on the right. Hi. Actually it is the three of us. A community question. Im gabby. And my question is when you walkin into a room i cant hear. When you walk into a room, which communities do you bring with you or who do you feel accountable to our responsible for . Like people, communities including race and class and gender. Who are your mentees . Which women are you fostering relations with . Would you repeat the question . When you walk into a room and interact with people, who do you view yourselves as representing which communities . There is no way to answer that. If you are the room with Close Friends and you are bridge pla yers, you talk about the last game you had. There is no way to answer that in general. Are you going in a larger group of strangers and there you are trying to handle something where you are different professions and businesses, that would be different. But i do not understand how to answer the question, to tell the truth. Do you view yourself often as speaking for women . Not often but sometimes. If you go to give a speech on how women can do a better job of being elected in a certain area, then you are going to try to address that particular question. Sure. What about you anna . For me, i bring a few people along with me. First im a daughter, a mother, wife. But i work for girls. So i bring 2 million of them with me wherever i go. Thats pretty nice. Pretty cool. And ive got a hook up with cookies. Its all good. Next question on your left. Hi. Justice, thank you so much. And the question is actually for you, anna. With the shortish you are experiencing in the organization would it make sense in todays age was such a lack of connection and belonging to actually consider creating girl scouts for women . To what . Create girl scouts for women. Im trying to do that. It is called our girl scout alumni association. Because there are 59 million of us out there. There are lifelong girl scouts. Once a girl scout, always a girl scout. And so a lot of them are trying to reconnect with us. The problem we were having is we were not having the technology to do that. So we have spent the last year actually investing in the first ever Technology Platform for girl scouts in the world. Soon you will be able to do that and connect with us in a way that you want to whether you want to be a troop leader whether you want to reconnect with other girl scout alum, other women, or you want to donate your treasure. Or advocate on behalf of girls. So that is coming. Im really excited about that because again, it is going to change the game. As i say, there are 59 million women who know the benefit of service and volunteering and were positively impacted by this program. And we are going to call them and activate them to make sure that other girls have an opportunity. That was a good question and a great answer. [applause] an interestingly one of the articles i read in preparation for today talks about volunteering. And the rise in volunteering of people basically 60 and over. And how that is so disproportionately female right now, which is another interesting phenomena. Dont stop. No, absolutely not. Hi. Im a transplant from the northeast, recent to arizona. But one of the things that is in the news a lot is the socalled war on women. And sort of backlash against women and opportunities. We see right being eroded. Do you see with the republicans taking control of congress, do you see a backlash against women . I think a lot of women are. And secondly, do you expect to see more of it and what can we do to fight against that backlash and to keep the ground that we have already one . Won . Would you try to repeat the question . Sure. The question is about the war on women. If there is one. Is there . Not in my neighborhood. Maybe there is some were. What about in d. C. . I dont see it. I think women are handling things quite well and doing increasingly better in terms of being elected as representatives nationwide. And participating in ways that are helpful. And notable. So, i am not sure i agree with the question. That it is a down hill slide. I am in American History buff. I found it is cyclical. In the 1990s, there is a book called the backlash. And it was about the same thing backlash against women. So a student of history, you can track this cyclical nature of issues and movements. And what im seeing now, though specifically in washington i will speak to that what i found fascinating, the federal government could not pass a budget a few month ago. And complete gridlock. You could not get anything done. Only three bills were passed. One of them was for girl scouts, thank you. And what i found interesting is i went to go see some of the female leadership in charge of appropriations. And what i found was later there was an article in time magazine, that there was a group of females on the house side, both republican and democrat, who basically were having dinner in saying this is crazy. We have got to get this done. They cross the aisle and started the whole dialogue that eventually led to the budget that was passed in congress. And so, for us, as i look out there, again, it is about ideology. It is about bridging differences, whether a man or woman. You have got to figure out gosh there is a lot going on and we have got to figure this out and quit. I think reasonable people faced with tough times will come up with great solutions. What im hoping is that we not focus in on, through the words that pull us apart. Lets focus on ensuring that people of good minds and good hearts are brought together by organizations to do the right thing. And there is a lot of need. If you have some time, we can find opportunities to change the dialogue. Very good. Next question on your left. Its a girl my name is india. My troop is 999. [laughter] [applause] whats your goal for every girl scout . My boss has spoken. What is my goal for every girl scout . That she is able to be a girl scout for as long as she wants and that there are enough adults to help her paves the way for her future and that she never ever doubts what is inside of her and the different she can make. Difference she can make. [applause] next question on your right. Im actually visiting from madison, wisconsin. It is nice to be here in the west. But iw want to go to what it means to be an american. Is there a word or phrase that you think of yourself as being an american . What does it mean to you to be an american . What does it mean to be an american . So, is there a word or phrase about what it means to yo tou to be an american . Not a word or phrase, that calls for a more expansive response than that. And thats a good question to ask because most of us feel very proud to be american. As you travel around the world and see other nations and t concerns they have in the difficulty they haveh in surviving and prospering in getting ahead with ideas it makes you ever more grateful that we are, indeed, living in this country and that we are americans. I dont know that i could phrase it in any one way, but to me it means opportunity. And it means a willingness to never stop working to improve what we are and how we perform. I think. Americans do that i admire that. I dont know. What would you think . [applause] well said, madam justice. When you said a word, i had a feeling. Pride. Hope. Faith. Were so lucky. We are. I took it for granted that i lived in arizona it is beautiful land we lived in. For us, i always focus on how can i keep teach that to my son, how lucky he is. I hope more people understand that and again we are investing in the future of this country. We cannot get distracted and let other people distract us. We have got to keep the iron the ball and make sure it is here for another generation. Im going to give you a make a shameless plug. Go to the website and answer the question for yourself. Part of what this project is about is encouraging all of us to answer that question. We were all asked that at the backstage as part of the project. Yeah. And its something fantastic to give some thought to because you do have feelings. And beings a word person, putting words to them is a healthy part of this project. Take a moment and do that. We have time for just one, last question before and move on, i want to thank the National Meet theme of