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The partnership’s first effort is the development of a “Manufacturing in a Box” pilot program that will help build the talent pipeline for the manufacturing industry by introducing young girls to the opportunities and skills in the field. Through guided Rosie Riveters kits, girls will explore careers in manufacturing by building a balloon powered car, an art bot, a slingshot rocket, and make a binary wearable. These pre-built hands-on and interactive lessons are based on providing a productive struggle to build participants' critical thinking, problem solving skills, and overall confidence in the STEM skills needed to pursue careers in manufacturing.

A Girl Scout will earn a Rosie Riveters Explores Manufacturing Fun Patch along with four Brownie badges: Automotive Manufacturing, Mechanical Engineering: Fling Flyer, Designing Robots, and the STEM Career Exploration by completing all the activities in the Box.

To complement the experience, the program is also looking for local manufacturers willing to open their doors for plant tours and women in the manufacturing workforce willing to tell their success stories.

Additionally, the goal of the pilot program is to showcase it as a best practice at the Girl Scouts of the USA National Convention taking place in Orlando this summer. Over 10,000 participants from all over the USA and abroad would learn about this opportunity and how to duplicate this program in their communities.

“The manufacturing worker of the future will need to have the right skills to operate in a highly automated environment,” said Zoraida Velasco, Executive Vice President at FloridaMakes. “This collaboration helps the manufacturing industry by inspiring, cultivating the talent, and supporting the overall success of the next generation of manufacturing workers.”

“We are excited about this partnership because it will empower our troop volunteers to pursue more STEM badges with their girls," said Maryann Barry, Chief Executive Officer of the Girl Scouts of Citrus. “STEM badges are some of the least pursued by girls and we are hoping this program will begin to empower women to embrace the fulfilling, lucrative careers this industry can provide.”

“Rosie Riveters’ goal is to close the gender gap in STEM,” said Brittany Greer, Executive Director of Rosie Riveters. “Our programs work toward achieving gender equity in the field by starting early, engaging repeatedly, and building confidence via productive struggle and this pilot does just that with a focus on manufacturing.”

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About Girl Scouts of Citrus Council:
Girl Scouts of Citrus is the premier leadership organization for girls, serving over 7,000 girls and 5,000 adults in Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, and Volusia Counties. The Girl Scout mission is to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. For more information, visit www.citrus-gs.org or contact Susan Ennis at Sennis@citrus-gs.org

About Rosie Riveters:
Rosie Riveters is a non-profit organization that develops preschool to middle school girls' - from diverse backgrounds - confidence, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills through our hands-on and interactive STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) projects. Founded in 2016, Rosie Riveters offers free STEM programming for girls ages 4-14. The organization instills a growth mindset - in STEM and beyond - by teaching girls to delete the words “I can’t” from their vocabulary and inspiring them to always be confident enough to try. Because even if they don’t get it right, they will always learn. Overall, by embracing failure rather than avoiding it, Rosie Riveters enables young women to build confidence in themselves and their ability to figure anything out. For more information, visit www.RosieRiveters.com.