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): Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast National Young Women of Distinction Gold Award Girl Scout Nominee, 2019 Community of Excellence Award, Grassfield High School, Chesapeake, VA, Scout of the Year Award, VFW Post #4809, Norfolk, VA.

Learning that each year millions of Americans face the reality of living with mental illness, Kaylee Keegan decided to raise awareness of mental health concerns and fight the stigma related to mental health by providing support, educating the pubic and advocating for policies that support people with mental illness and their families. In partnership with National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Kaylee established mental health resource centers in Chesapeake high school libraries where students can find literature, including library books to borrow, and informational pamphlets that she designed in partnership with NAMI. Students use the materials to learn how to start a conversation with family and friends to encourage them to "Break the Stigma!" and talk about their concerns. Kaylee's project has blossomed to include "Break the Stigma!" resource centers at regional Boys and Girls Clubs and at https://gsbreakthestigma.wixsite.com/website/home.
Savannah Bowers - "Abuzz for Honey Bees" (2019)
Ariel Hofman - "Sheltering Native Bees" (2019)
Julie Averbach-Adventures from My World (2016): National Gold Award Girl Scout 2016, Julie Averbach, Girl Scouts of the Heart of New Jersey, wrote and illustrated Adventures from My World, a comic book that reaches out to people who may feel lost or overlooked, letting them know that they are not alone in the highs and lows that they experience as siblings of people with special needs. With more than 10,000 copies in print, Adventures from My World is embraced by special needs sibling support groups, hospitals, libraries, schools, and private psychology practices in nineteen USA states and Canada, Brazil, England, and Australia. It has been translated and published in Spanish and Portuguese. Girl Scout Alum, Julie is a student at Yale University where, in 2018 she launched Yale Campus Girl Scouts as an official Yale student organization, Girl Scouts of Connecticut Council. She is the co-leader of New Haven, Connecticut Girl Scout Troop 60630. For more information about her project, visit http://www.adventuresfrommyworld.com/about.html
Girl Scout Gold Award: Gold Award Girl Scouts demonstrate extraordinary leadership by initiating measurable and sustainable methods to impact local challenges related to a national and/or global issue.

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

2019–2020 Girl Scout Gold Award Proposal Deadlines and Interview Dates

Deadline	Interview	Location
Sept 12, 2019	Oct 3, 2019 6 p.m.	Peninsula Service Center, Newport News
Oct 11, 2019	Nov 2, 2019 9 a.m.	Virginia Beach
Nov 14, 2019	Dec 5, 2019 6 p.m.	A Place for Girls, Chesapeake
Dec 13, 2019	Jan 4, 2020 9 a.m.	Peninsula Service Center, Newport News
Jan 16, 2020	Feb 6, 2020 6 p.m.	Virginia Beach
Feb 14, 2020	Mar 7, 2020 9 a.m.	A Place for Girls, Chesapeake
Mar 12, 2020	Apr 2, 2020 6 p.m.	Peninsula Service Center, Newport News
Apr 10, 2020	May 2, 2020 9 a.m.	Virginia Beach
May 14, 2020	June 4, 2020 6 p.m.	A Place for Girls, Chesapeake
June 11, 2020	July 2, 2020 9 a.m.	Peninsula Service Center, Newport News
July 16, 2020	Aug 6, 2020 6 p.m.	Virginia Beach
Aug 14, 2020	Sept 5, 2020 9 a.m.	A Place for Girls, Chesapeake

Upcoming Go Gold Workshops

Sept. 22, 2019	A Place for Girls, Chesapeake	2 - 4 p.m.
Oct. 16, 2019	Virginia Beach Location, TBD	6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Nov. 17, 2019	A Place for Girls, Chesapeake	2 - 4 p.m.
Jan. 25, 2020	Enmeier Center, Camp Skimino, Williamsburg	1 - 3 p.m.
Feb. 1, 2020	Hampton Location, TBD	1 - 3 p.m.
Mar. 22, 2020	A Place for Girls, Chesapeake	2 - 4 p.m.
Apr. 25, 2020	Virginia Beach Location, TBD	TBD
May 17, 2020	A Place for Girls, Chesapeake	2 - 4 p.m.
Jun. 20, 2020	Hampton Location, TBD	1 - 3 p.m.
Jul. 26, 2020	A Place for Girls, Chesapeake	2 - 4 p.m.
Aug. 18, 2020	Virginia Beach Location, TBD	6:30 - 8:3- p.m.
Sept. 20, 2020	North Carolina Location,. TBD	TBD
Oct. 4, 2020	A Place for Girls, Chesapeake	2:30 - 4: 30 p.m.

Gold Award Resources

Go Gold App

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 Gold Award Girl Scout Lea Bonner, National Young Women of Distinction, 2017

Gold Award Project Proposed Timeline

Gold Award Project Proposed Budget

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.