Gold Award

Change the world, Girl Scout

Gold Award Girl Scouts are rock stars, role models, and real-life heroes. How do they do it? By using everything they’ve learned as a Girl Scout to solve a problem in their community or make a lasting change in their world.

Seniors and Ambassadors who want to go for the Gold Award build a team of trusted adults, peers, and leaders in their community to guide them through challenges and support their success.

Plus? Nothing beats that feeling of seeing real, lasting, and sustainable change and knowing it was you who made it happen. It changes the way you see your place in the world—and how the world sees you.

You can become a Gold Award Girl Scout if you:

Are in ninth, tenth, eleventh, or twelfth grade
Are a registered Girl Scout Senior or Ambassador
Have completed the Silver Award, a Senior/Ambassador Leadership Award, or a Senior/Ambassador Journey

To find quick answers to your questions, check out Girl Scout of the USA's Highest Awards FAQ.

ambassador high school girl scout wearing sash outside against green background

Become a Gold Award Girl Scout

Ready to change the world, for good?

GET STARTED

How to earn the Girl Scout Gold Award

Let our council know you want to earn it.

Find an issue in your community or the world that you care about.
Learn everything you can about that issue through research and trusted sources.
Form a team by identifying experts and people in your community who could help you.
Think about the root cause of an issue, then make a plan of how you could tackle it.
Submit your project proposal to our Girl Scout council for approval.

Lead your team and carry out your plan.
Reflect on the change you’ve created in your community and the world, share your story, and inspire others to make a difference, too.

Resources

Highest Award Prerequisites

Leadership Awards

Celebrate all the ways you lead–yourself, your team, and your community–with new & updated leadership awards.

Journeys

Journeys encourage Girl Scouts of all ages to think critically, boost their problem-solving skills, and make an impact.

Highest Awards FAQs

Going for your Bronze, Silver, or Gold Award? Get answers to the most common questions to get started.

Hey, grownups!

When you support Girl Scouts earning their Gold Award, you’ll help them see their own power and be by their side as they make a lasting change in their community. Download a guide to get started today.

Gold Award Guide for Leaders

Gold Award Guide for Adults

GSNC's Gold Award Process toggle arrow

Gold Award Training toggle arrow

Girl Scouts and their troop leaders or parents/caregivers must check out the Gold Award training video. The training video addresses the prerequisites to earning the award, defines a Take Action project, the steps to earning the award, funding a project, and more!

Your Guide to Going Gold (Mandatory) toggle arrow

Your Guide to Going Gold will be your go-to resource. It aligns with the GoGold portal and answers many questions you might have. You are required to sign page 28 to show you have read it and submit it when going for Gold!

Download Your Guide to Going Gold

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GoGold is the online portal to submit your Girl Scout Gold Award project proposal.

Gold Award Deadlines toggle arrow

High School Freshmen, Sophomore, and Juniors: Gold Award proposals are accepted 365 days a year

High School Seniors Only:Proposal submission deadline January 15 of their senior year

This will enable HS Seniors to go through the approval process (3-5 weeks) and complete a quality Gold Award project.
Gold Award proposals will still be reviewed in the order they are received. High school seniors will not receive priority. That being said, we strongly recommend that high school seniors not wait for this deadline, and submit your proposal in a timely fashion.
We can write letters explaining you are indeed a Gold Award Girl Scout, but are just waiting to be honored.

Important Deadlines for Completion of Gold Award Projects

March 31: Projects need to be complete and final paperwork received by GSNC to be in the current year’s Gold Award Ceremony.

High School Seniors Only: September 30 after high school graduation: Completed project and all final paperwork due. You will be invited to the following year’s ceremony.

Guidelines for Funding Gold Award Projects toggle arrow

GSNC’s Guidelines for Funding a Gold Award Project provides the necessary information, guidelines, and frequently asked questions (FAQs) on funding a Girl Scout Gold Award Project in Nassau County.

Adult Guide for Gold Award toggle arrow

Whether you’re a troop, volunteer, girl chamption, or a project advisor, your role is to encourage Girl Scout Seniors and Ambassadors to think critically, be open to multiple perspectives, investigate thoroughly, and identify resources within and beyond their local communities. You are supporting girls as they develop into leaders for today and tomorrow.

The Girl Scout Gold Award: A Guide for Leaders can help you support your Girl Scouts.

Get Inspired by Past Gold Award Girl Scouts toggle arrow

Learn tips from Gold Award Girl Scouts

Meet the Class of 2024 Gold Award Girls Scouts

Scholarship Opportunities toggle arrow

GSUSA Gold Award Scholarship

The GSUSA Gold Award Scholarship recognizes and provides financial support to one Gold Award Girl Scout per council and one from USA Girl Scouts Overseas.

Scholarship recipients must have completed a Gold Award project that demonstrates extraordinary leadership and measurable, sustainable impact and addresses an issue of national and/or global significance.

Award: $5,000
Open: March 14, 2025
Deadline: April 17, 2025

View application requirements and other important details, and apply at girlscouts.org.

Virginia A. Wills Girl Scout Gold Award Scholarship

Virginia A. Wills loved being a Girl Scout and would rather have been doing activities with her troop than anything else. She wanted girls to see all the possibilities that were available to them, and show them how important service was by always helping people in need.

Award: $1,000
Deadline: April 17, 2025

Apply today.

For additional Gold Award Scholarship Opportunities, please visit girlscouts.org/scholarships.

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Bronze, Silver, and Gold Office Hours

Once you have read Your Guide to Going Gold, Silver, or Bronze Toolkits and have watched the training videos, you can sign up for a time slot to have your questions answered.

Please email customercare@gsnc.org if you have questions regarding higher awards.

Additional Resources toggle arrow

Council Finder