Our children love their Girl Scout troop. They learn so much about empowerment, social justice, and how to be a good community member. We have incredible local leaders, and as a parent, I'm continually impressed by the work that Girl Scouts does in our community. That's why we were shocked to learn of the Girl Scouts of the USA partnership with arms manufacturing giant Raytheon. (This page on the current partnership was active as of 1/4/2024, but has since been taken down.)

Raytheon has supplied arms to the Saudi-coalition, which used the missiles to kill innocent civilians in Yemen. The arms manufacturer sees ongoing attacks against Palestinian civilians which have killed tens of thousands of people, two thirds of whom are women and children, and the attack on Israel on October 7th, which killed almost 700 civilians including 36 children, as profit making opportunities, as quoted in The Guardian on October 30th:

“Looking at [the White House’s $106bn supplemental funding request], you’ve got equipment for Ukraine, air and missile defense for Israel, and replenishment of stockpiles for both. And this seems to fit quite nicely with the Raytheon Defense portfolio,” said Liwag, whose employer holds over $3bn in Raytheon stock, a 2.1% ownership share of the weapons company.

Greg Hayes, Raytheon’s chairman and executive director, responded: “I think really across the entire Raytheon portfolio, you’re going to see a benefit of this restocking.”

This company is out of line with Girl Scout values, as contained in the Girl Scout Promise and Law: "to help people at all times" and to "make the world a better place". We call on Girl Scouts of the USA to immediately end the partnership with Raytheon.