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Gold Award

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The highest award in Girl Scouting

The Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award for Girl Scouts ages 14-17, focuses on leadership, career exploration, challenge for personal growth, and community action.

A girl who has earned the Gold Award can look forward to greater access to college scholarships (through the Girl Scouts of Greater New York as well as through the Girl Scouts of the USA), paid internships and community awards. She can also be nominated for consideration as a recipient of the Girl Scout Gold Award Young Woman of Distinction honor from Girl Scouts of the USA.

More than 3,500 Girl Scouts design, implement, and complete Gold Award projects each year.

Girls start by choosing an issue that they care about, and following these 6 steps:

1. Complete Prerequisites

Fulfilling the pre-requisites starts with completing two Senior or Ambassador Journeys, or having earned the Silver Award and completing one Senior or Ambassador journey.

  • Senior Journeys: GirlTopia. It’s Your World - Change It!;  Sow What? It’s Your Planet - Love It!;  Mission: Sisterhood! It’s Your Story – Tell It! 
  • Ambassador Journeys: Advocate: It’s Your World - Change It!;  Justice: It’s Your Planet - Love It!; Bliss: Live It! Give It!; It’s Your Story – Tell It! 
2. Create a Proposal for the Take Action Project

The Take Action Project should be a minimum of 80 hours. The project should have a lasting impact on their community. We are going eco-friendly this year and would like the girls to submit their Gold Award Proposal Forms online. Be sure to fill out the form in its entirety.

3. Submit the Gold Award Proposal

Submit your Gold Award Proposal Form Online:

Complete your Gold Award Proposal Form. Proposals are reviewed by our volunteer committee, after which girls receive an approval or addendum request via email.

Once we receive the Proposal Form, the Highest Award and Scholarship Committee will review it. If an addendum is needed, you will receive an email from goldawardprojects@girlscoutsnyc.org with the changes needed-girls have one week to fulfill addendum request. If no addendums are needed, girls will receive a letter of approval and may start to implement their Take Action Project.

4. Start the Take Action Project

Girls implement an 80-hour (minimum) service project that will have a great impact on their community. Click here to check out some real project ideas by New York City Gold Award Girl Scouts!

5. Prepare the Final Report for Submission

Girls must complete the Gold Award Final Report Form in its entirety. 

Through this leadership experience, girls will gain specific skills including content knowledge of their cause, develop specific values and discover what they stand for, leading to changes in attitudes and behavior. 

It is important that their final report reflects the person they’ve become through their leadership journey. 

It is paramount, and our committee is requesting, that all Final Reports submissions are presented in a binder, type or neatly legible penmanship (please check proper grammar and spelling), all questions answered in a separate Word document, must have leader or advisor signatures, a tallied time log,  and finally that it contains supporting documentation; pictures, links to websites, blogs and/or screen shots of any social media and copies of flyers/surveys, notes and anything that tell us their story—their accomplishments. 

This is the first leadership portfolio for most girls and it should be presented with pride because it illustrates who they are. 

6. Mail the Gold Award Take Action Project Final Project and Report

Mail your Gold Award Final Project Report binder to:

Girl Scouts of Greater New York
ATT: GOLD AWARDS
40 Wall Street, Suite 708
New York, NY 10005 

Projects are reviewed by our volunteer committee, after which girls receive an approval or addendum letter.

If you are currently in the 12th grade, you must submit your completed binder and Final Report by September 30 th of your graduation year from high school.

Special Note to Leaders:

Once your Girl Scouts have completed their Gold Award Project, add their projects to the GSUSA Girl Changing the World Map.

For more information on the Gold Award, and for upcoming training dates, please contact Yanira Camino.