She was the CEO of the Girl Scouts of the USA, from 1976 to 1990, and the president and CEO of the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Forum, at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA), Johnson Institute for Responsible Leadership.
[3] In 2009, she helped to found the Hesselbein Global Academy for Student Leadership and Civic Engagement at the University of Pittsburgh.
[7][8][failed verification] Hesselbein was on the boards of the Mutual of America Life Insurance Company, the Bright China Social Fund, California Institute of Advanced Management, and the Teachers College, Columbia University Presidents Advisory Council.
[4] In 1998, Hesselbein was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work with the Girl Scouts of the USA.
[13] The program aims to teach high school students leadership, communication, and team-building skills by sending them on a week-long trip to either the United States Military Academy in the fall or to the United States Air Force Academy in the spring.