Ban Bossy

Girl Scouts of the USA CEO Anna Maria Chávez will be featured on the cover of Parade magazine this Sunday along with Facebook COO and Lean In author Sheryl Sandberg and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. These powerful women are looking to change the conversation about girls and leadership with a new campaign to Ban Bossy.

When it comes to girls' ambition, the pattern is clear: girls are discouraged from leading. When a little boy asserts himself, he's called a "leader," yet when a little girl does the same, she risks being called "bossy"- one of the many ways we inadvertently hold girls back. The Ban Bossy campaign is designed to drive national conversation about girls' leadership, as well as provide girls, troop leaders and parents with practical tips about how to encourage girls.

In fact, according to a study conducted by the Girl Scout Research Institute, while most youth (82 percent) agree that girls and boys are equally good at being leaders, 52 percent also agree that "girls have to work harder than boys in order to gain positions of leadership."

You can access a portion of the article that will appear in Parade here. The complete article will be available in print and online on Sunday, March 9.