Images provided courtsey of Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania (GSEP)

53 Girl Scouts recognized for earning the Gold Award at Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania’s annual ceremony    

(June 9, 2026) – Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania (GSEP) announced that 53 girls across its 9-county footprint earned the prestigious Girl Scout Gold Award – the highest honor and award a girl can achieve in Girl Scouting – during the 2025-2026 member year. The in-person Highest Awards ceremony took place on Sunday, May 31, 2026, at Temple Ambler Learning Center. Kim E. Fraites-Dow, CEO of Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania, GSEP leadership, and Pennsylvania State Representative Mary Jo Daley attended the ceremony to share remarks and honor the girls with the respected award.

The Girl Scout Gold Award recognizes Girl Scout Seniors and Ambassadors (grades 9-12) who exhibit outstanding leadership by creating sustainable and measurable Take Action projects. The Gold Award is the culmination of a girl’s leadership ability, time management, creativity, initiative, and a significant mastery of skills. Gold Award Girl Scouts individually identify a community problem, develop a plan to solve it, recruit a team to assist them, and create sustainable solutions that last for years beyond their project. Girl Scouts that earn the Gold Award are eligible for several scholarships from colleges and universities and can advance a rank when they enlist in the U.S. armed forces.

4 of the girls that received their Gold Award participated in the second year of GSEP’s Calling All Girl Bosses (CAGB) program – a year-long free initiative that allows girls in Philadelphia, Reading, and Allentown the opportunity to participate in 12 workshops that empower girls to be changemakers within their communities.

GSEP is proud to announce that Willow W., a resident of Norristown, Pennsylvania, is the recipient of the 2026 Girl Scouts of the USA $5,000 Gold Award Scholarship. This accolade is awarded to one Gold Award Girl Scout per council that has demonstrated extraordinary leadership and measurable, sustainable impact to address an issue of national and/or global significance. In her Take Action project, Willow worked to reduce period poverty among those learning English by developing a comprehensive educational booklet to provide accessible menstrual health information, particularly to those whose first language is Spanish. As part of this initiative, Willow collected and donated menstrual products to an all-girls orphanage in Costa Rica and led educational presentations for tenth graders at Renaissance Academy Charter School to foster open conversations on menstrual health.

“Each year, our Girl Scouts continue inspiring us through the creativity and impact of their Take Action projects,” said Kim E. Fraites-Dow, CEO of GSEP. “We are proud to honor the 53 Girl Scouts who have earned the Gold Award. Through their community-focused Take Action projects, these young women have actively demonstrated Girl Scouts’ five essential leadership outcomes: developing a strong sense of self, displaying positive values, seeking challenges and learning from setbacks, forming and maintaining healthy relationships, and becoming community problem solvers. By tackling meaningful issues across our 9-county footprint, these Girl Scouts join a distinguished community of leaders who inspire others through their leadership and service.”

Through their Take Action projects, Gold Award Girl Scouts create a lasting, meaningful impact on their communities, highlighting the significant power of Girl Scouting. Projects range in topics from creating a podcast to spread awareness on mental health struggles, facilitating workshops for immigrants pursuing citizenships, developing curriculum on artificial intelligence for younger students, building a boardwalk trail for visitors of varying abilities, and more. Together, this year’s Gold Award Girl Scouts completed more than 4,240 leadership hours of community service (each project requires at least 80 hours of community service). Based on the latest service worth estimate of one volunteer hour ($36.14*), this represents a value of $153,233.60 in community problem-solving investment for the counties GSEP serves (Independent Sector, April 2026*).

GSEP also recognizes 127 Girl Scouts, including 7 CAGB participants, who earned the Girl Scout Silver Award during the 2025-2026 member year, honoring their commitment to making a positive change in their communities through their Take Action projects. The Girl Scout Silver Award is the highest recognition a Girl Scout Cadette (grades 6-8) can achieve.

For more information on GSEP’s Highest Awards, visit: https://www.gsep.org/en/members/for-girl-scouts/highest-awards.html 

 

About Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania 

Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania (GSEP) is the largest girl-serving organization in Pennsylvania and builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. What was started in 1912 in Savannah, Georgia by founder Juliette Gordon Low as one small, yet dedicated troop of diverse girls has grown into 2.8 million Girl Scouts across the U.S. today. GSEP serves more than 25,000 girls in partnership with more than 14,000 volunteers in Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Chester, Delaware, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, and Philadelphia counties. Today, 80 percent of women in leadership and executive roles in the U.S. are Girl Scouts. Girl Scout alumni comprise 70 percent of women in the U.S. Congress. For further information about Girl Scouting, how to join, volunteer, reconnect, or donate, call 215-564-2030 or visit www.gsep.org. Follow @GirlScoutsEPenn on X, Instagram and Facebook.

Information provided to TVL by:
Taylor Campbell