BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Local Girl Scouts are watching history right before their eyes as the first female Governor of New York is taking office.
Ava Flores has been a Girl Scout since Kindergarten and just received her Girl Scout Gold Award.
“A female governor from New York? Like what??” Flores said. “I’m a female from New York. I can do this! It was cool to watch. Cool to hear.”
Girl Scout leaders and moms are using Governor Kathy Hochul's journey as a lesson.
“It’s really a place of inspiration where young girls can be like ‘wow! I can be the head of the state one day or even higher, a female president one day,” Girl Scout leader, Kristi Runyan, said.
Hochul herself did not miss a beat paying tribute to women’s suffrage. She wore white, along with all the women in her family, when she was ceremonially worn on Tuesday morning.
Department of Global Gender and Sexuality Studies Chair, Gwynn Thomas, said it was symbolic for the women’s suffrage movement.
“It’s most associated with the vote which is the suffrage, and it became a color that has been associated with that movement,” Thomas said.
Thomas said literature shows getting into executive positions is a lot more difficult for women.
“Even though people are more open to vote for women, studies show that there is still a double standard when it comes to women’s leadership,” Thomas said.
The Girl Scouts said it’s even more inspiring that the first female Governor of New York is a hometown girl from Western New York.
“For younger girls, they are going to grow up seeing her as their role model,” Flores said. “They’re going to see her as someone who paved the way for them later in life."
Hochul has been inspiring Girl Scouts for years. She even created a badge for the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New York in 2017.
“I thought that was so cool,” Flores said. “She started out like me once. She didn’t know where she was going and now she’s here.”
