Beth Shelton traveled to Washington, D.C., for a few days this month — her first trip. The invitation to see the capital city came as an opportunity for the CEO of Girl Scouts of Greater Des Moines to speak at a symposium focusing on women being underrepresented in STEM fields.

The symposium by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine focused on the results of a study that examined why women still have gains to make in certain fields. 
Shelton was one of three speakers on a panel to discuss specific topics. A recurring theme was the issue of child care or family-friendly policies for working women (or all parents). Shelton addressed the attendees, detailing the new infants at work policy that Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa began late last year.
“Talking about what we’re doing at Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa with innovative benefits can move the needle on equality in the workplace — all workplaces. Data clearly shows brilliant people are leaving research, leaving academics, leaving high-level jobs, [and are] paid less, funded less, and published less because of their gender or race. We’re not just talking about solutions, but DOING something systematic and scalable about it!” Shelton wrote on Facebook.

At the symposium, she explained that when she first was approached about the idea of new parents bringing infants to work, she felt it wouldn’t work in their operations. Then she said she reflected on the mission of Girl Scouts and how enacting such a policy would help and support women and families. Now, the nonprofit is all in.

“We are unapologetic about it,” she said in her remarks. There will likely be seven infants at Girl Scouts offices at some point, Shelton said.

You can watch the whole presentation https://bit.ly/2JpvMq9. Shelton’s remarks start at about the 1:46 mark. You can read a Business Record Insider story about infants at work https://bit.ly/2JxdIKC.