Celebrities Who Were Girl Scouts

From politicians to Academy Award-winning actresses, the Girl Scouts have a history of some pretty awesome alumnae 

The Girl Scouts have been launching young women to success for more than 100 years, and that includes many celebrity alumnae, who sold (and still sell!) the organization's popular cookies and learned life skills (like cooperation and teamwork) that serve them sell on sets today).

01 of 27

Busy Philipps

Busy Philipps girl scout picture

Busy Philipps/Instagram

Busy looked back at her Brownie career on Instagram, saying, "me, as a little Brownie, giving us future Cricket vibes except with terrible bangs i blame my mother for." (Cricket is Philipps' youngest child.)

02 of 27

Kristen Bell

Kristen Bell
Kristen Bell/Instagram

Kristen's favorite thing about being a Girl Scout (other than the cookies, apparently)? That they created a limited-edition patch with her called "Paint Your World Purple" that recognizes Girl Scouts working to make the world better, inspired by the message in her book The World Needs More Purple People.

03 of 27

Reese Witherspoon

Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon/Instagram

"I bet you can guess who sold the most cookies for Troop 1007," Witherspoon bragged on Instagram alongside a throwback photo of her in her adorable uniform.
The cookies just went on sale, so if you're craving Thin Mints (or this year's new flavor!) you can support a Scout by purchasing a box or four.

04 of 27

Katie Couric

Famous Girl Scouts
Katie Couric/Twitter

Couric took a walk down memory lane in 2012, sharing a photo of her in her Girl Scout uniform in 4th grade.

05 of 27

Abigail Breslin

Famous Girl Scouts
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty

Breslin was sworn into the Girl Scouts on the 20th Century Fox studio lot in 2008, just one year after being nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars. Do you think that earned her a badge?!

06 of 27

Dakota Fanning

Famous Girl Scouts
Barry King/WireImage

Dakota Fanning proudly joined the Girl Scouts at 11 years old!

07 of 27

Hillary Clinton

Famous Girl Scouts
JOHN MOTTERN/AFP via Getty

The former first lady and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton wrote of her time as a Girl Scout in her 2003 memoir Living History, sharing, "As a Brownie and then a Girl Scout, I participated in Fourth of July Parades, food drives, cookie sales and every other activity that would earn a merit badge or adult approval."

08 of 27

Laura Bush

Famous Girl Scouts
Brooks Kraft LLC/Sygma via Getty

Laura Bush helped the Girl Scouts celebrate their 90th anniversary while First Lady of the United States, and was named Honorary National President of Girls Scouts.

09 of 27

Michelle Obama

Famous Girl Scouts
Alex Wong/Getty

As honorary national president of the Girl Scouts 2015, Michelle Obama invited 50 Girl Scouts to camp out on the White House lawn!

10 of 27

Mariah Carey

mariah carey
Mariah Carey. ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty

According to the Girl Scouts of America, before Mariah Carey was a superstar, she was a Scout!

11 of 27

Debbie Reynolds

Famous Girl Scouts
Getty

Actress Debbie Reynolds was a proud Girl Scout! The organization paid tribute to her and her daughter Carrie Fisher following their deaths in Dec. 2016, sharing that Reynolds "earned more than 42 badges and even joked that she wanted to become the world's oldest living Girl Scout." Reynolds was even the troop leader of her daughter ...

12 of 27

Carrie Fisher

Carrie Fisher - 70th Venice Film Festival
Kurt Krieger/Corbis via Getty

...who followed in her mom's footsteps as a Girl Scout!

13 of 27

Blythe Danner

AARP's 17th Annual Movies For Grownups Awards - Show
Rich Fury/Getty

Actress Blythe Danner once took the vow to "always be prepared," and she passed down her love of the Girl Scouts to her daughter ...

14 of 27

Gwyneth Paltrow

the goop lab Special Screening, Los Angeles
Gwyneth Paltrow. Rachel Murray/Getty Images

...and the Goop founder is listed on the organization's website as a famous Girl Scout alum.

15 of 27

Meghan Markle

Meghan Markle on Ellen
Meghan Markle. The Ellen Show

That's right, the Duchess of Sussex is a Girl Scout! According to the organization's blog, Prince Harry is lucky to be married to her because of her Scout values.

16 of 27

Karlie Kloss

Karlie Kloss
Victor Boyko/Getty Images

The model and Kode with Klossy founder was also a Girl Scout! She told Teen Vogue in 2013, "I have so many fond memories of growing up with my sisters and my best friends, and selling cookies was such a big part of our year. That was the exciting part of the spring. You plan for it all year. It's such an incredible memory that I'll always have. My oldest sister is just a few years older, and my youngest sisters are twins, so all of us were in Girl Scouts at the same time. I was in my troop with my absolute best friends growing up. In my community, the Girl Scout troops were very close. It was amazing to be a part of something that was big—it was very special organization. It still is!"

17 of 27

Queen Latifah

BET Arrivals - Queen Latifah
Paras Griffin/Getty

The former Girl Scout even recorded a PSA for the organization, saying in her recording, "Not just making our mark but making a difference. Now that's a job for a Girl Scout."

18 of 27

Vanessa Hudgens

Vanessa Hudgens

The High School Musical alum became an honorary Girl Scout at the 2009 premiere of her movie Bandslam.

19 of 27

Tyra Banks

Holiday gifts for mom
(ABC/Christopher Willard)

The former Girl Scout (she was given the organization's Gold Award) showed her support for the organization in 2020 as they moved their cookie selling virtual. Banks tweeted, "Support our nation's youngest female entrepreneurs while social distancing!"

20 of 27

Robin Roberts

Robin Roberts
Robin Roberts. ABC/Lorenzo Bevilaqua

Robin Roberts tweeted in 2017, "I was a #GirlScout and I'm proud to say I'm a lifetime member!"

21 of 27

Barbara Walters

Barbara Walters
Barbara Walters. Taylor Hill/Getty Images

The legendary journalist was once a Girl Scout!

22 of 27

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift. ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

Swift may have grown out of her Girl Scout uniform, but she still looks after her fellow Scouts — in 2018 she gave Girl Scout troops in Northern New Jersey hundreds of free tickets to her reputation tour.

23 of 27

Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart
Michael Kovac/Getty Images

Is it any wonder that Martha Stewart is a Girl Scout? She shared, "Girl scout camp at South Mountain Retreat (in Orange, N.J.) taught me the real love of the outdoors, camaraderie and friendship."

24 of 27

Lisa Ling

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Steve Granitz/WireImage

The journalist, who was a Girl Scout in Southwest Indiana, said, "the Girl Scouts is where I became acquainted with the idea that a woman can do anything."

25 of 27

Lucille Ball

lucille-ball-2.jpg
Ron Galella/WireImage.

The Girl Scouts organization honored Ball, one of their notable alumnae, during Women's History Month in 2017.

26 of 27

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty

The New York Representative was once a Girl Scout! She once tweeted, "@girlscouts is how I first practiced how to change brake fluid, start a fire, practice self-defense, recreate the NASA Challenger mission, and v importantly: learn to teach myself new skills + navigate ambiguity. There's a reason a large of Congresswomen are former scouts!"

27 of 27

Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza Rice
Chip Somodevilla/Getty

Fun fact: Every female secretary of state in United States history was a Girl Scout! Rice told a group of Girl Scouts in 2008, "The most important qualities in being a leader are to have a strong sense of values and integrity, that whatever you're doing, you're doing it because you believe it's right, to not just try to do the easy thing. If everybody just did the easy thing, nothing would ever progress."

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