To understand Carole Segal‘s passion for philanthropy, one must look no further than her upbringing in Calumet City, Illinois.
Growing up, Segal’s mother served soup to people in need on the back steps of their house, and her father, who was a dentist, often exchanged dental procedures for handiwork with patients who couldn’t pay.
“Being raised in a small town, everyone knew everybody and everyone took care of one another. I never thought anything about it,” says the co-founder of Crate and Barrel. “It was a natural thing. If you didn’t behave, your neighbors would tell your parents. It was very different back then. There was a whole community raising you.”
And being a Girl Scout gave Segal a strong sense of social responsibility.
“I remember looking at the breadth of badges we could earn and that gave us the mindset of caring, whether it was for our pets, or babysitting,” she says. “Girl Scouting also provided me with organizational skills on how to accomplish projects. It gave me so much direction and helped me develop an entire thought process.”
Since then, Segal has dedicated her life to giving back to others and on Thursday, March 16, 2017, she will be honored by Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana at the annual Tribute to Achievement dinner.
The council’s GirlSpace program, which provides at-risk girls with a safe, structured and supportive learning environment, is especially near and dear to Segal’s heart. Last year, she funded field trips for nearly 300 Girl Scouts to visit Lincoln Park Zoo and Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks, inspiring one girl to pursue a career in acting.
“As one of four girls, my dad would always tell us, ‘Just because you’re a girl, I don’t want you to think you can’t be or can’t do something,'” she says. “I think it’s important to empower girls, especially at this time with so much going on. This is really what’s important right now. Girls are important. Women are important.”
Segal’s desire to help others is also evident in her work on behalf of immigrants as co-chair of the Illinois Business Immigration Coalition.
“I know a young girl who’s undocumented and I told her, ‘When you get worried and you need someone to call, call me,'” she recalls. “I want them to know they’re not alone. We need to get involved with young people and mentor them. It doesn’t cost anything to reach out. They need someone to listen and be there for them.”
Indeed, Segal’s parents, along with her experience as a Girl Scout, have driven her life’s work of making the world a better place … one person, one girl at a time.
“We all need, in this time, to be a friend,” says Segal. “It’s as simple as somebody saying I care about you and how you’re doing. We spend so much time on our phones, what’s the point if we’re not reaching out to help?”
Make It Better is proud to be a media sponsor of the Tribute to Achievement dinner on March 16. For more information or to RSVP, please visit girlscoutsgcnwi.org.
