Are You Ready to Make a Difference in the World?
The Girl Scout Gold Award represents the highest achievement in Girl Scouting. Open only to girls in high school, this prestigious award challenges you to change the world—or at least your corner of it, and be eligible for college scholarships, too. By the time you put the final touches on your seven-step project, you'll have solved a community problem—not only in the short term, but for years into the future. Check out the seven steps below.
- Identify an issue
- Investigate it thoroughly
- Get help and build your team
- Create a plan
- Present your plan and gather feedback
- Take action
- Educate and inspire
The Benefits of Going Gold
Girl Scout Gold Award recipients do well in life! They rate their general success in life significantly higher and report higher success in reaching their goals within many areas.
- Higher education and career
- Life skills
- Community
Prerequisites
Before submitting your proposal, you must:
- Complete two Journeys at the Girl Scout Senior and/or Ambassador level, OR
- Earn the Girl Scout Silver Award as a Cadette, and complete one Senior or Ambassador Journey
- Attend a Gold Service Workshop
Helpful Gold Award Links or attachments:
See prior Gold Court of Awards earned - see attachments.
Scholarships you might be eligible for, including the Girl Scouts Nation's Capital - Sarah and Lawrence Phillips Girl Scout Gold Award Scholarship Fund.
About
In Your Honor, Girl Scouts Nation's Capital's annual Gold Award ceremony.
Submitting your proposal
Send it to: Girl Scouts Nation's Capital, 4301 Connecticut Avenue, NW, M-2, Washington, DC 20008, Attn: Gold Award Panel.
All submissions must be received by 5pm on the first business day of the month.
When turning in your Gold Award Proposal you can have an In-Person Presentation or choose to participate in the Proposal-Only process. Presenting your proposal is a great way to ensure that the Panel understands your vision for your Gold Award project. For information on what to prepare and what to expect, please see our council's Gold Standard online at http://www.gscnc.org/teen_gold.html.
Please remember, there is a two-step process to sign up for a Panel presentation:
1) Girls must submit their proposals to the Washington, DC Council office by 5 pm on the 1st business day of the month.
2) Concurrently, girls need to have their leader or parent register them for a Panel Presentation. Registration for Panel Presentations typically opens on the 18th of the month prior to the Panel meeting and close the 2nd working business day of the month. This allows us time to prepare and the send the proposals to the panels before their meetings which are usually scheduled for the second and third weeks of the month (as noted in the chart above).
Once your proposal is approved, you must engage in a Take Action Project that addresses a root cause of an issue that you’re interested in, has national and/or global ties, and is sustainable. It is suggested that you spend a minimum of 80 hours on the project, including any work you’ve done before submitting your proposal. The 80 hour guideline does not include time spent on Journeys or the Silver Award.
*Please note: Juliettes should be sure to obtain copies of both the Girl and Adult Guides for each Journey, as both books are needed to successfully complete all of the Journey requirements.