Gold Award

Are you ready to make a difference in the world?

The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest award a Girl Scout can earn.

This award is the most prestigious award in the world for girls—and the most difficult to earn—and it's only available to Girl Scouts. Once achieved, it shows colleges, employers, and your community that you've accepted the challenge to change the world—or at least your corner of it.

Join a century of women who have done big things. Learn about scholarships, the history of the Gold Award, and the benefits of going Gold.

Hear their Gold Award stories:

Kaylee Keegan - "Break the Stigma" (2019)
Savannah Bowers - "Abuzz for Honey Bees" (2019)
Ariel Hofman - "Sheltering Native Bees" (2019)
Ava Gonzalez - "Gardening for History" (2018): A senior at Granby High School, Ava Gonzalez earned her Girl Scout Gold Award with her project "Gardening for History." Ava chose to create an outdoor garden exhibit for the Hunter House Victorian Museum, a Norfolk home turned museum built in 1894. “Gardening for History” is a free, educational exhibit that introduces green spaces to an area that lacked them beforehand. Read Ava's full story.
Krysta Rutherford - "The Forgotten Horses" (2018): Krysta Rutherford, an avid horse lover, documented through video the need to save the critically endangered breed of horse: the Colonial Spanish Mustang. For more than a year, Krysta traveled thousands of miles in her quest to assemble the story of the Colonial Spanish Mustang. Her film has reached thousands of people through event showings, articles, presentations and more. Read Krysta's full story.
Tara Grady - "What Makes Me TIC" (2018): Nansemond River High School student, Tara Grady, has been a Girl Scout for 9 years and is part of Suffolk's Troop 431. For her project, Tara created a Tourette Syndrome awareness campaign to teach her classmates and community members about the disorder. Tara was inspired to create the campaign because she lives with Tourette syndrome and had experienced some difficulties at school when some teachers did not understand her educational needs. Read Tara's full story.
Lea Bonner - National Young Woman of Distinction (2017): Lea Bonner, a Girl Scout Ambassador from Chesapeake, was named by Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) as a 2017 National Young Woman of Distinction. Each year, GSUSA selects 10 National Young Women of Distinction annually among candidates who have earned their Girl Scout Gold Award. For her Gold Award project, Lea established a recycling program for oyster shells from local restaurants in her community in order to help create reefs to help the oyster population grow. Read Lea's full story.

2019 Gold Award Celebration

On Saturday, May 4, 2019, GSCCC honored 27 girls who earned their Gold Award during the 2019 membership year.

View the 2019 Gold Award Keepsake Booklet >>

Read about the celebration on our blog >>

Go for the Girl Scout Gold Award:

Requirements & Steps for Earning the Gold Award

You can pursue your Girl Scout Gold Award if:

You're in high school (ninth through twelfth grade, or equivalent)

You're registered as a Girl Scout Senior or Girl Scout Ambassador

You have completed two Senior or Ambassador Journeys OR earned the Girl Scout Silver Award and completed a Journey

Girl Scout Gold Award Steps

Identify an issue

Investigate your issue thoroughly

Get help and build your team

Create a plan

Present your plan and gather feedback

Take action

Educate and inspire

Download the
Gold Award guidelines

Deadlines, Dates, and Workshops

2017–2018 Girl Scout Gold Award Proposal Deadlines and Interview Dates

Deadline	Interview	Location
Thur., Sept. 13, 2018	Thur., October 4, 2018 6 p.m.	Peninsula Service Center, Newport News
Fri., Oct. 12, 2018	Sat., November 3, 2018 9 a.m.	Wycliffe Presbyterian Church, Virginia Beach
Thur., Nov. 15, 2018	Thur., December 6, 2018 6 p.m.	A Place for Girls, Chesapeake
Fri., Dec. 14, 2018	Sat., Jan. 5, 2019 9 a.m.	Peninsula Service Center, Newport News
Thur., Jan. 17, 2019	Thur., Feb. 7, 2019 6 p.m.	Wycliffe Presbyterian Church, Virginia Beach
Fri., Feb. 8, 2019	Sat., Mar. 2, 2019 9 a.m.	A Place for Girls, Chesapeake
Thur., Mar. 14, 2019	Thur., Apr. 4, 2019 6 p.m.	Peninsula Service Center, Newport News
Fri., Apr. 12, 2019	Sat., May 4, 2019 9 a.m.	Wycliffe Presbyterian Church, Virginia Beach
Thur., May 16, 2019	Thur., Jun. 6, 2019 6 p.m.	A Place for Girls, Chesapeake
Fri., Jun. 21, 2019	Sat., Jul. 13, 2019 9 a.m.	Peninsula Service Center, Newport News
Thur., Jul. 11, 2019	Thur., Aug. 1, 2019 6 p.m.	Wycliffe Presbyterian Church, Virginia Beach
Fri., Aug. 17, 2019	Sat., Sept. 7, 2019 9 a.m.	A Place for Girls, Chesapeake

Upcoming Go Gold Workshops

Sept. 8, 2018	First Christian Church, Hampton	10 a.m.- Noon
Oct. 20, 2018	Wycliffe Presbyterian, Virginia Beach	9 - 11 a.m.
Oct. 21, 2018	Elizabeth City Field Center, Elizabeth City	2 - 4 p.m.
Nov. 5, 2018	A Place for Girls, Chesapeake	6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Jan. 5, 2019	Camp Skimino, Williamsburg	2 - 4 p.m.
Feb. 1, 2019	Wycliffe Presbyterian, Virginia Beach	6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Mar. 24, 2019	A Place for Girls, Chesapeake	2 - 4 p.m.
Apr. 13, 2019	Wycliffe Presbyterian, Virginia Beach	9 - 11 a.m.
May 11, 2019	First Christian Church, Hampton	1 - 3 p.m.
Jun. 23, 2019	A Place for Girls, Chesapeake	2 - 4 p.m.
Jul. 10, 2019	Wycliffe Presbyterian, Virginia Beach	6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Aug. 24, 2019	First Christian Church, Hampton	1 - 3 p.m.
Sep. 22, 2019	A Place for Girls, Chesapeake	2 - 4 p.m.
Oct. 16, 2019	Wycliffe Presbyterian, Virginia Beach	6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Gold Award Resources

Girl Scout Gold Award Resources

Learn about Girl Scout National Young Women of Distinction who have earned the Girl Scout Gold Award.

Learn about the Helen Kattwinkel Tribute Fund that supports lifetime memberships for Gold Award alumnae.

Hear from Girl Scout Gold Awardee Anne Fentress.

Are you a Girl Scout Alum who earned the highest award in Girl Scouting when it went by another name?

If you earned the First Class, the Curved Bar, or the Golden Eaglet, we want to welcome you into the Gold Award Girl Scout family. See Girl Scouts USA's page to see how to receive your recognition.

Changes made to the Girl Scout Gold Award

National has updated the Gold Award to include projects that may benefit the Girl Scout community. To ensure that this does not dilute the prestige, leadership efforts, or impact of each girl’s project, the Gold Award project must still meet the seven requirements that are key to making it a sustainable project and contain two of the three components (build, advocacy, education). All projects must have active leadership.

A build project would be a more difficult choice, as the project will still need to have a second component and active leadership. Build projects must have a community partner outside of the benefiting organization who will agree in writing to sustain what the girl has created in the years to come - neither GSCCC nor a GS troop can be the sustaining partner.

The second change is in money earning for a Gold Award Project. A girl must seek approval from the philanthropy department director prior to setting up money earning activity or asking for any in-kind donation.

If you have questions, please contact the Colonial Coast Gold Award Committee directly at gsgoldaward.gsccc@gmail.com.