As Girl Scouts end of year celebrations begin we wanted to spotlight the 84 girls who earned membership into an elite group—Girl Scout Gold Award recipients. The Gold Award is the highest award a Girl Scout can earn. Why? Because to earn the Girl Scout Gold Award Girl Scouts must utilize the skills they have acquired throughout their years in Girl Scouting—teamwork, time management, project development and fundraising, to name a few—to implement a sustainable project that has a lasting positive impact. Completion of the Gold Award project truly allows girls to Discover, Connect and Take Action—the 3 Girl Scout leadership keys.

Girl Scout alumnae who engaged in Take Action projects report this helped prepare them to play an active role in their communities as adults. The 2014 Girl Scout Gold Award recipients not only played active roles in their communities, but their leadership in identifying and addressing issues in their community served to make them better places to live and thrive.

Congratulations to all of the Gold Award recipients who implemented projects that included: developing tutorial videos and learning centers for academic enrichment, increasing environmental awareness, collecting books to enhance the lives of those living locally and abroad and, using music to enhance and impact the lives of others. We are indeed proud of your accomplishments and your commitment to making the world a better place and look forward to seeing how each of you will impact the future.

Watch below to hear the inspiring message that keynote speaker, Erika Brannock had for our Gold Award Recipients and all Girl Scouts about overcoming the roadblocks and setbacks they may face through their lives.