Following her successful campaign to ban disposable vapes in September 2022, Laura was named Scottish Influencer of the Year by the Scottish Influencer Awards in 2024. 

Former Guide Laura helped launch the Eco award with Guides and Rangers in Fyvie, Aberdeenshire in 2025. Laura has also shared her expertise with the organisation and in her role as Environment ambassador will champion girls’ voices on environmental matters at future opportunities. 

In 2019, Anna ran 90 marathons across Britain barefoot, meeting over 70 Girlguiding units along the way. Anna has actively supported Girlguiding for many years. And as an ambassador, she helps to inspire and encourage more girls to discover their full potential, learn new skills and have fun and adventure along the way. 

At the WAGGGS world conference in the Netherlands in 1929, it was decided that a world centre should be built. Hellen Storrow (a Girl Scout leader from America) offered to fund both the construction and the first three years of operation under the condition that it should be built in Switzerland. Falk helped her find a suitable place, researched a long list of Chalets, mostly in the Berner Oberland (Bernese Highlands).  

In June 1930, Hellen Storrow came to Switzerland to meet up with Falk and visit the Chalets. Many Chalets were visited, but none of them really convinced them - the one in Grindelwald smelled of old cheese, the one in Kandersteg was out of the question, since the boy scout centre was already there… However, when Falk came to Adelboden, she had the feeling that she found the right place – one that would combine both adventure and peace for the soul. After receiving Storrow’s approval, measures to buy the land were put in place. In December of 1930, the Swiss Chalet Committee visited the land and signed the buying contract. 

Storrow called a session of the World Committee for June 1931 in Adelboden to inspect the site and discuss further plans. When they climbed up to the site, Herr von Sinner (Architect of Our Chalet) rushed up with a long pole on his shoulder. Great was her surprise and joy when she was greeted by an American flag waving from the place where the Chalet now stands. The committee approved of the site and the construction started shortly after that – in September 1931 the construction started with building the basement and finished with building the roof in December.  Because Mrs Storrow decided that she would like a little house of her own where she could stay and receive her own guests, Baby Chalet was built shortly before the opening and is still available for guests to stay in nowadays. On 31 July 1932, Our Chalet was formally opened by the first World Chief Guide, Olave Baden-Powell and Mrs Hellen Storrow with many villagers, Girl Guides and Girl Scouts from around the world, an Robert Baden-Powell in attendance. 

In 2002, she became Chief Commissioner, a position that placed her at the helm of the national organisation during a critical period of transformation. Under her leadership, GGASA embraced inclusivity and modernised its structure, ensuring that it continued to serve as a vital movement for empowering young girls across South Africa. She went on to serve as National President, further strengthening the organisation’s role in youth development and gender equality. Beyond her national contributions, Mrs Mbekeni has played a crucial role in expanding women’s leadership across Africa. She was instrumental in supporting six African nations— Namibia, Botswana, Malawi, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, and Lesotho—to achieve full membership in the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS).  

Her impact was not limited to Africa. She represented South Africa at international conferences in Singapore, Hong Kong, China, the Ivory Coast, Ireland, and the Philippines, advocating for greater opportunities for African women in leadership. She was also a key participant in a South African national conference on racism, Combating Racism – A Nation in Dialogue, in 2000. In addition to her work in youth organisations, she contributed to governmental initiatives. She was appointed to the Presidential Working Committee on Women’s Issues, where she focused on water and sanitation challenges affecting rural communities. Her ability to navigate both grassroots activism and high-level policy discussions cemented her reputation as a visionary leader in women’s development. Her unwavering dedication has been recognised through multiple prestigious awards. She has received the Silver Merit Award and the Gold Award from GGASA, the Achievers Award from the Eastern Cape Department of Sports, Arts & Culture, and the Silver Fish Award, the highest honour awarded by GGASA. These accolades reflect the lasting influence she has had on youth empowerment and women’s leadership. Her contributions to the Girl Guides Movement have led to her being named a Life Honorary Member of both GGASA and WAGGGS, a distinction reserved for those who have made an outstanding impact on the global scouting and guiding community. 

In 1942, Holloway established Troop 200 – Nashville’s first Black Girl Scout troop. She was also the first Black professional Girl Scout employee in Middle Tennessee – serving as a field advisor, district director, and camp director. 

Holloway’s perseverance to establish Girl Scouting opportunities for Black girls spanned years before Troop 200’s debut. In 1924, Holloway attended a training session in Nashville with Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low and was commissioned a Captain (leader). She was authorized to form troops for Black girls at the Bethlehem Center. 

After leaving the Center, she later formed unofficial troops in the 1930s, using a copy of the Girl Scout handbook to lead her troops. These troops were finally officially recognized and registered in 1943. 

When Holloway’s requests to start official troops for Black girls were finally granted, the momentum led to 13 new troops in 18 months. 

In 1955, Camp Holloway, named after Josephine Groves Holloway, opened its grounds in Millersville, Tennessee. 

Her involvement with the Girl Guide and Scouts association, both local and international, dates back to the 1970s. In 2016 she was honoured by the Kenya Girl Guides Association as a hero and was recognised for her exemplary leadership and service to the community.  

A meeting with Sir Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of Boy Scouts, in London in 1911 inspired Daisy to establish Girl Scouts when she returned the following year. Telephoning a cousin from her parent’s home, she announced, "I've got something for the girls of Savannah, and all of America, and all the world, and we're going to start it tonight!" 

From that first gathering of a small troop of 18 girls, Daisy broke the conventions of the time—reaching across class, cultural, and ethnic boundaries to ensure all girls had a place to develop their leadership skills, advocate for themselves and others, and turn their ambitions into reality. 

Using her innate talent for fundraising and public relations, combined with her vast network of friends and supporters, she led Girl Scouts with passion and determination—ensuring it was, and always would be, an experience that was “girl-led.” 

At the beginning of the Movement, when the girls wanted to follow their brothers, the Scouts, the Founder called upon his sister to help.

Miss Baden-Powell loved to be asked to visit Guide companies, and often used to stay with them in camp, where she slept under canvas. In the early days she was a very keen balloonist, an interest which she shared with her brother, Major Baden Baden-Powell. 

Miss Baden-Powell was quite fearless. After a luncheon party given in her honour at the Forum Club, Grosvenor Gardens, London, when the flying bombs were at their worst and two had just fallen, she was offered a lift in a car, but she said firmly "No, thank you; I shall walk home" and she did! 

Her activity and energy remained unimpaired until the last, and at parties given in honour of her birthdays as they came round she was always the brightest and the "youngest" there.