Girl Scouts of Maine CEO Joanne Crepeau stands with four Scouts who were selected to speak at the United Nations. From left are Leah Cromarty of Westbrook, Devlin Geisler of Farmingdale, Grace Goodwin of Brewer and Jasmine Lucas of Falmouth. Courtesy photo
WESTBROOK — Girl Scouts Leah Cromarty and Jasmine Lucas were scheduled to deliver speeches at the United Nations next month, but they’re not letting their disappointment that the visit has been canceled stop them from moving forward with their work on gender equality.
Cromarty, of Westbrook, and Lucas, of Falmouth, were two of the 16 Girl Scouts chosen nationwide to speak to the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations in New York in April. The visit they had eagerly awaited was called off because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Lucas said she and Cromarty have been staying in touch through webinars and texting.
“We worked hard and learned a lot for this, and we want to be able to put that to use,” said Lucas, a Falmouth High School freshman.
The two did a heavy amount of research, looking at gender equality and women’s rights through the lens of the Beijing Platform for Action, when 17,000 participants and 30,000 activists went to Beijing for the opening of the Fourth World Conference on Women in September 1995 to support gender equality.
“We used that platform as an overall blueprint on how to achieve gender equality,” said Comarty, a freshman at Westbrook High School.
“Now that we aren’t speaking at the U.N., we are looking possibly at a trip to D.C. to learn more about legislation and get involved, but it’s still being worked on,” she said.
The girls hope to form a plan and kick it into action when the threat of the coronavirus fades.
“A crisis is an opportunity to exercise leadership,” said Girl Scouts of Maine CEO Joanne Crepeau, adding that it is the mission of the organization to develop leaders.
“These girls will continue to lead activities on the commission’s topics of girls’ leadership, girls’ education, women’s economic rights, environmental stewardship and human rights,” Crepeau said.
Lucas has taken a special interest in an environmental aspect of gender equality continuing to explore the impact changes in the environment, whether human-made or natural disasters, have on women across the globe, Crepeau said. And the U.N. opportunity piqued Cromarty’s interest to learn more about educational access and opportunities for girls and women, and find ways to make an impact in that area.
“We could not be more proud of this amazing group of girls and look forward to seeing how their leadership skills continue to grow and the impact they make on our Maine community and the world,” said Laura Genese, communications director for the Girl Scouts of Maine.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
