Gold Award Girl Scout: Elizabeth Braden
Elizabeth Braden has been a Girl Scout with Girl Scouts of Southern Alabama for 12 years. She says that she has learned many things through Girl Scouting, but the most important thing she has learned is to keep pushing forward when plans don't initially work out. Through brainstorming sessions exploring many different ideas, she developed her Gold Award Project. She hosted the Huntsville Women's Health Conference, a free conference focused on breaking down barriers to information and empowering women through education.
The Girl Scout Gold Award is the pinnacle of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience, and it is available exclusively to Girl Scout Seniors and Ambassadors (9-12 grade). Through the Gold Award, girls engage in a rigorous leadership process, tackle issues they are passionate about in order to create long-term, sustainable change. To earn the Gold Award, girls typically spend one to two years exploring the root cause of a local or global issue and partner with the community to create lasting solutions.
Elizabeth gave insights on her life-changing Gold Award Project below.
How did you come up with your idea?
"As someone who had experienced confusion and stress due to my own health journey, I knew that the key to advocating for oneself in a medial environment is education. Without that, women don't know the right questions to ask about their health- and how to identify things they find concerning. This need I saw not only through my own experience but also while talking to women in my research led me to want to create an initative that addressed it."
Why did you choose this project?
"Because a women's health conference would create an opportunity for women across the city to come together and get the education and resources they need. I tried to break down as many barriers that would inhibit this as possible through the conference, such as available Spanish translation, no fees, and nonprofit involvement."
Who are you hoping to help with this project?
"Women who want to know more about their health, how to address it, and how to identify things that aren't right."
What did you learn along the way?
"Overcoming obstacles: Making a stronger pitch and being persistent in pursuing help to build support. I aggressively marketed the event by hanging up flyers, leveraging Meta ads, and securing a spot on the news with WHNT News 19. I became extremely organized in email communications and partner relations to ensure clarity and coordination with the 25 partners. Additionally, I allocated specific time each week to work on certain tasks and maintained both a weekly and long-term to-do list to manage my schedule effectively
"Leadership: Vision and Initiative: I conceptualized the HWHC, identifying the need for women’s health education in Huntsville and designing a comprehensive event to address it. Organization and Planning: I managed all logistics, including budgeting $433.66 from a $500 pool, creating a detailed itinerary, and designing the booth floor plan.
"Communication: I effectively coordinated with 25 diverse partners, handling 1-on-1 outreach and Zoom meetings to align efforts.
"Problem-Solving: I navigated challenges like initial outreach and parking issues with innovative solutions.
"Advocacy: I engaged government leaders like Representative Lands and advocated for inclusivity with bilingual materials/translation."
Tell us a little story about some part of your project that was special to you.
"A conversation I had with a partner organization representative during the event:
She was talking about all of the organizations I had come and how she simply didn't know there were so many like-minded individuals in the city who advocated for women's health- and how the conference was incredible for bringing them together.
Knowing and having this experience truly proved just how much of a need there was for a system and network of these people to collaborate in the city."
What advice would you give to other girls considering a Gold Award Project?
"Network, network, network! One partner could lead to dozens more if you know what to ask and how to present yourself. More people want to help and serve their community than you would think- if you just simply ask your community for help more times than not you'll receive it. But the most important thing is to treat everyone who helps you like they're the MVPs- creating a community that helps one another and is centered around kindness leads to more service and people who love doing it."
Your Gold Award Project made a change for the better in your community? How did it change you?
"The need for women's health resources in Northern Alabama. It also brought to my attention the fact that women need support from each other in their health- if one woman speaks out about advocating for oneself, more people will follow."
Congratulations on earning your Girl Scout Gold Award, Elizabeth!
