Empowering Change: Scouting America's Trail of Inclusion

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A 115-year-old leadership development organization with a history of exclusion has done something that few companies have recently done: be inclusive. At a time when diversity, equity, and inclusion are under attack at a national level, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) just changed its name to gender-neutral Scouting America. The organization is finally demonstrating through words what it had been doing in practice starting seven years ago, including girls.

The Scouts were racially segregated until 1974, barred openly gay members until 2013, banned transgender boys until 2017, and prevented girls from participating until 2018. By removing "Boy" from its title, girls and young women are no longer pushed to the periphery and can be confident in their place in Troops across the country.

When I was four, I wanted to join the Boy Scouts like my older brother Bryan. I looked up to the boys who led each other in teaching knots, how to swim, and how to respect and support the community, including through countless service projects. As I got older, I learned that the Scouts did not just impart one-off skills but values, including kindness, selflessness, and dedication. These boys were learning to make a tangible difference while building up the people around them. However, while my brother's BSA Troop let me attend meetings and some camping trips, it was made clear that I couldn't become a full member, and I could not earn the highest rank, Eagle Scout.

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So, at age 11, I decided to change the rules.

I started a change.org petition, passed resolutions, wrote opinion pieces, applied significant media pressure, and met with Scouting's top leadership to push for girls in the organization.

After nearly 10 years of advocacy, I officially joined BSA and was part of the first female class of Eagle Scouts in 2020. The class had almost 1,000 young women who had spent years serving their communities as unofficial members, for which they never fully received their due recognition.

Over the years, people have asked me why I wanted to be an Eagle Scout so badly and why fighting for other girls' rights was necessary. You don't have to look far to see the benefits. Just being a member of Scouting helps open doors. A disproportionate share of West Point and Naval cadets, astronauts, and countless other civic, corporate, and military leaders—along with four of the five past U.S. Presidents—got their start as Boy Scouts.

It is that fifth, non-Scout President who is now waging war on the values I and many others learned to uphold as Scouts.

Since Donald Trump's return to office, we have seen an administration bent on erasing the opportunities and contributions of just about anyone who would not have been welcomed into the Scouts not too long ago. The Trump Administration has already deleted mentions of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, and other inclusionary terms across federal government policies, programs, and communications. Researchers who received federal funding are ordered to remove words such as "women," "disability," and "LGBT" from proposals. This targeted, hateful action by the Trump Administration means silencing groups and organizations dedicated to equity. This attack on inclusivity has never been about "fairness"; it's always been about power and exclusion.

And, as an Eagle Scout, I can not sit quietly watching this injustice in government.

This President is fueling an era of discrimination that calls on Scouting America and other inclusive-minded organizations to take even more action. Scouting America has led by example by enshrining its commitment to inclusion by changing its name. But a name change is far from enough. Scouting's leadership must actively shift the organization's culture from a boy's club to a program for all youth. And they should start at the top.

Over a million young people, including about 200,000 girls, are involved in Scouting America. However, the organization's top leaders are all white men, and six women serve on a board of 45 people. All of those women are white, and fewer than 10 are men of color. Girls should be able to see leaders who look like them. Therefore, Scouting America should hire and recruit more diverse executives and board members. Research shows that organizations with greater diversity in their leadership outperform their peers.

Scouting America changed its name to signal that its doors are open wider than ever. We need more leadership that embraces opportunity for all, particularly during these dark times. But the work is never over, and we must continually strive for more progress. Scouting America is living the values of leadership, service, and decency, and its leaders must keep blazing that trail.

Sydney Ireland recently served as Senior Vetting & Research Coordinator in the Office of Vice President Kamala Harris. After leading a successful decade-long campaign that opened Boy Scouts of America (now Scouting America) to full membership for young women, she became a member of the inaugural class of female Eagle Scouts in 2020. Her advocacy has enabled more than 175,000 girls to join the organization. Sydney has written opinion pieces for the Washington Post, USA Today, and Outdoor Magazine, and has appeared on CNN, History Channel, Lifetime, BBC, and PBS. A graduate of Amherst College, Sydney continues to champion inclusion and equity through her writing and advocacy work.

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