The Alarming Reality Facing Indiana's Girls | Deana Potterf, Girl Scouts of Central Indiana
On today's show I sat down with Deana Potterf, CEO of Girl Scouts of Central Indiana, about Girl Scouts' impact across 45 counties and key findings from the 2026 Indiana Girl Report created with the Indiana Youth Institute through a $15M Lilly Endowment-supported Girl Scout Coalition initiative. Potterf discusses misconceptions that Girl Scouts is mainly about cookies, highlighting high-adventure camps, STEM badges, life skills, and the Gold Award of community service leadership. She emphasizes troubling trends in girls' mental health, including higher bullying and cyberbullying rates, body image pressures, loneliness, and alarming depression and suicidal ideation statistics, plus challenges like homelessness and adverse childhood experiences. She describes efforts to meet girls where they are, recruit volunteers, provide $400K annually in financial assistance, partner with the Indianapolis Colts' Kicking the Stigma on camp wellness stations, and address Indiana's shortage of school mental health professionals. If you like this episode and want to hear more Get IN. episodes where I interview Hoosiers making a difference, visit getindiana.com/podcast. You are going to learn about: - The Impact of Girl Scouts of Central Indiana - What Young Girls Struggle With Right Now - How Volunteers and Financial Assistance Help GSCI's Mission Check out these great clips from the show: 00:00 Serving Girls Where They Are 00:29 Guest Introduction: Deana Potterf, Girl Scouts of Central Indiana 02:10 Dena's Girl Scouts Journey 03:53 Indiana Council Consolidation 06:05 Gold Award Turning Point 08:30 Beyond Cookies Misconceptions 14:02 Girl Report Partnership 14:54 Mental Health Alarms 18:28 Role Models and Access 26:39 Evolving Troops and Volunteers 33:18 Mental Wellness at Camp 37:10 From Data to Real Stories 37:43 Finding Belonging 39:59 Ages and Badges 41:45 From Daisies to Cruises 43:15 Lifelong Friendships 44:34 Indiana Mental Health Gaps 47:27 Advice for Parents 51:47 How Hoosiers Can Help 54:14 Dashboard Stats Reality Check 58:27 Why Indiana Home 59:44 Hidden Gem Yellowwood State Forest 01:02:37 Hoosier to Watch 01:03:31 Hoosier Hospitality and 2029 01:05:30 Cookie Baker Secrets 01:06:43 How to Join Get IN. is brought to you by our friends at Sweetwater. Whether you are looking to start a podcast or level up your current show you need to hit them up.