Chesapeake Gold Award Girl Scout Maureen Keller Recognized with $10,000 in Scholarships During the Girl Scouts Who Lead the Way Awards Celebration
June 07, 2025
On June 7, 2025, Girl Scouts of Colonial Coast (GSCCC) recognized Gold Award Girl Scout Maureen Keller as a Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) Gold Award Scholarship recipient during the Girl Scouts Who Lead the Way youth awards celebration held at the L. Douglas Wilder Performing Arts Center in Norfolk on the campus of Norfolk State University. Keller, a rising sophomore at Alabama State University, was recognized by GSUSA with a $5,000 scholarship. The decision follows the deliberation by a national panel of judges in recognition of her 2024 Girl Scout Gold Award project titled “Green Hearts. Think Before You Trash.” The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest and most prestigious award in Girl Scouting, recognized for Senior and Ambassador Girl Scouts (grades 9-12), and the GSUSA Gold Award Scholarship is awarded to one remarkable Girl Scout per council who has demonstrated extraordinary leadership and sustainable impact while addressing a national or global issue.
As a Girl Scout Ambassador, Keller put in over 130 hours of service to her Girl Scout Gold Award project, which was developed in response to a city-wide nix of the government-funded recycling program in Chesapeake City. She took the initiative to tackle this challenge by hosting Chesapeake’s very first city-wide Earth Day celebration, and advocated for the return of curbside recycling by meeting with local leaders.
Gold Award Girl Scout Ambassadors Janelle Breitkreutz of Virginia Beach, Sarah Glassman of Norfolk, and Justina Williams of Chesapeake, were also recognized as finalists for GSUSA’s 2025 National Gold Award Girl Scout Scholarship Program. Thanks to the generosity of passionate Girl Scout alums and former GSCCC board members, Keller received an additional $5,000 scholarship, and each of the council’s other three finalists were awarded a $1,000 scholarship.
According to GSUSA’s research, Gold Award Girl Scouts are more likely to fill leadership roles at work and in their personal lives and are more civically engaged than their non–Girl Scout peers. Eighty-seven percent (87%) of Gold Award Girl Scouts agree that earning their Gold Award gave them skills that help them succeed professionally. Seventy-two percent (72%) said earning their Gold Award helped them get a scholarship. Changing the world doesn’t end when a Girl Scout earns her Gold Award: ninety-nine percent (99%) of Gold Award Girl Scout alums take on leadership roles in their everyday lives.
Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast would like to offer their thanks to Gold Sponsor Norfolk State University, Silver Sponsor Publix Super Market Charities, and Bronze Sponsor Capital Group for supporting this special celebration.
