Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails
Grants Awarded
This program aims to connect girls and young women in Taos and western Colfax Counties with nature to enhance their overall health, boost their confidence, and foster a sense of environmental stewardship. By offering a free summer day camp, the initiative seeks to improve participants' cognitive function, mental well-being, physical activity levels, and sleep, particularly for those from marginalized backgrounds who are at risk for negative outcomes.
The mission of Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails (GSNMT) is to build girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place. Our vision is that every girl in central and northern New Mexico—regardless of her race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, or geographic location—is empowered to fulfill her potential and make the world a better place. Since 1912, Girl Scouting prepares girls to become strong leaders in their homes, workplaces and communities. Our proven techniques for engaging girls in hands-on, inquiry-based learning introduce girls to diverse role models and mentors in STEM, Outdoor Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Life Skills. Participation in Girl Scouts, including having positive adult role models and a group of “sisters”, is shown to complement the development of positive mental health, academic success and community engagement. Our council is led by Chief Executive Officer Rebecca Latham, and Chair of the Board of Directors Karen Bergren. With offices in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Farmington, Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails serves approximately 6,000 girls and adults across central and northern New Mexico. The council serves these 23 counties: Bernalillo, Catron, Cibola, Colfax, Curry, De Baca, Guadalupe, Harding, Los Alamos, McKinley, Mora, Quay, Rio Arriba, Roosevelt, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Socorro, Taos, Torrance, Union, and Valencia. Girl-led, expert-approved, and volunteer-supported, Girl Scouts helps girls discover their strengths and change the world. Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails proudly owns two beautiful camp properties, and outdoor programs are absolutely crucial to what Girl Scouts do. Along with being the most popular and sought-after experiences, spending time outdoors really is one of the best ways to develop self confidence, learn to lead and be part of a team, and develop curiosity about and a respect for nature. Camp Elliott Barker is 536 acres, located on the eastern slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Angel Fire. Rancho del Chaparral is 1,100 acres located in the Santa Fe National Forest between Jemez Pueblo and Cuba. Both camps feature backpacking, hiking, outdoor games, art, environmental education, conservation activities, STEM exploration, archery, equine programs, ropes course and dark-sky star-gazing through powerful telescopes in our sky sheds. Over the last two years, GSNMT has been focused on increasing the diversity of our membership, and making Girl Scouting more accessible to girls in under-served, tribal and/or rural areas. We know that lack of financial resources, parent involvement and transportation are the leading causes of girls not participating. GSNMT is proud of our new initiative, The Every Girl Initiative, which eliminates these boundaries to participation. In school year 2022-2023, working with Title 1 schools, providing after-school, staff-led troops at no cost to the girl, GSNMT has enrolled and positively impacted almost 400 girls who otherwise would not have been able to participate. In addition to this, GSNMT has seen overall membership of girls who identify as people of color increase to over 65% of total membership.