The highest award in Girl Scouting—Girl Scout Gold Award

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.

COVID-19 Updates

Deadline to submit Highest Awards project for 2020 graduates of 12^th grade (Gold) 8^th grade (Silver) and 5^th grade (Bronze) is Monday, February 22, 2021.

PLEASE DO NOT MAIL YOUR BINDERS AND/OR PROJECTS INTO OUR OFFICE! Due to our office closure during COVID-19 and our mandate to be an all-remote workforce, we are not able to accept packages and mailings at our office.

If you’ve already sent in your materials or would like to change your take action project, please reach out to Marlinda Cesar-Wiley.

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!
Engineering: Think Like an Engineer
Computer Science: Think Like a Programmer
Outdoor STEM: Think Like a Citizen Scientist

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!
Engineering: Think Like an Engineer
Computer Science: Think Like a Programmer
Outdoor STEM: Think Like a Citizen Scientist

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. Think about your passions, interests, and the issues you’ve observed in your community and the world. How can you make an impact by turning that into a Take Action project?

3. Submit the Gold Award Proposal

Submit your Gold Award Proposal Form Online:

Log in to our GoGold Online Platform for submission. Proposals are reviewed by our volunteer committee, after which girls receive an approval or addendum request via email.

Once we receive the proposal, 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 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. Submit your Final Report via GoGold Online Platform

Submit your Gold Award Final Project Report through our GoGold Online Platform.

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

Downloads Available

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.

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

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