As CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA—and as a proud Girl Scout since I was seven years old—I’m incredibly honored to represent an organization whose core mission is to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.

At Girl Scouts, we know that girls are a great untapped resource, and we have a broad plan to unleash their power so that they are prepared for—and can be the creators of—the jobs of the future—for themselves, their families, their communities, and our nation.

As technological change races forward, demand for skills—some new and some old—has changed as well. Unfortunately, while access to technology has increased as the digital divide continues to shrink, and at a time when having a broader base of skills is increasingly consequential, many of our youth, especially girls, do not have the opportunities to build the skills necessary to succeed in this new world.

Closing that gap and providing girls the opportunity to build life-changing skills that they need to thrive is what we at Girl Scouts have done for over a hundred years. Now, we are redoubling our efforts to expand the winner’s circle to reach even more girls, in every community and of every background, offering unparalleled opportunities to explore STEM, entrepreneurship, and the great outdoors, and to build essential life skills that will serve them throughout their lives. Through our skill-building Girl Scout Leadership Experience, we are expanding the female leadership pipeline by building amazing G.I.R.L.s—Go-getters, Innovators, Risk-takers, and Leaders.

In designing and refining our program offerings, harnessing technology is critical for an organization like Girl Scouts that stretches across the country and whose members expect an experience that both reflects our original mission and that is future-focused, dynamic, and relevant to girls’ lives.

To ensure we’re offering a consistent experience to our members across all regions, starting in 2012, Girl Scouts underwent a monumental organization-wide digital transformation, with support from Salesforce, through which we’ve dramatically enhanced our customer work, including the entire parent, volunteer, and girl experience. This partnership has provided us with an instituted, data-driven approach to better managing our operations so that we can constantly align our resources with how to best reach and serve more girls, including those in underserved and underrepresented communities.

As an engineer and rocket scientist, I have a particular passion for STEM, going back to when I was a seven-year-old Brownie camping out with my troop and staring up at the stars. I remember my troop leader, noticing my fascination, encouraging me to earn my science badge, which I did by building and launching an Estes rocket. All these years later, it fills me with such joy and satisfaction to see girls across the country exploring and building potential career paths in these important fields, for the good of the country and the world—and for the good of the girls themselves!

I am deeply honored to be attending Dreamforce this year, along with some amazing Girl Scouts from our Girl Scouts of Northern California council, and I’m also truly humbled to be representing my beloved Girl Scout movement—1.8 million girls, 800,000 adults, 112 local councils across the country, and our USA Girl Scouts Overseas program serving American girls living in foreign countries. Girl Scouts is so thankful for Salesforce’s in-kind support, and for the recognition they have given us as a “Trailblazer” alongside such an incredible array of leaders from the worlds of technology, design, politics, nonprofit, media, business, finance, the armed forces, arts, entertainment, and more.

At Girl Scouts, trailblazing is at the core of who we are! It’s no coincidence that in the United States, our pioneering alumnae represent the majority of female astronauts, 76 percent of current female senators, 50 percent of female business owners, all past female secretaries of state, more than half of the 88 women in the House of Representatives, and 4 out of the country’s 6 female governors. Girl Scouts get things done.

These numbers reflect the significant influence Girl Scouts has had on the country. Girl Scouts gives girls a wide range of opportunities to improve their prospects for work, their ability to earn a decent wage, and their chances of living in healthy communities with the kinds of strong social networks and institutions that will support them and, in turn, expand the opportunities they are able to pass along to their children. This is why so many of our troop leaders were themselves Girl Scouts who benefited from their experiences and want their daughters to have the same life-changing experiences.

At Girl Scouts, we are in our second century of preparing girls for a lifetime of leadership, and we are passionate about creating that pathway of girls who can lead—in medicine, robotics, engineering, and the arts; and as entrepreneurs, makers, inventors, and designers.

This is what we do—and no organization does it better!

Join Girl Scouts in building the girl leaders of tomorrow! Volunteer, reconnect, donate, or join by visiting www.girlscouts.org.

If you’re coming to Dreamforce, come visit Girl Scouts at the Girl Scout Expo in Dream Valley! And stock up on Girl Scout Cookies in Dream Valley Learning Cabin and Salesforce.org Lodge Ranger Station during these times:

Sylvia Acevedo will be participating in a keynote event with Salesforce founder, chairman, and CEO Marc Benioff on Monday, November 6, at Dreamforce.