Thursday, October 1, 2026
At 17 years old, Vanessa Herrera has already spent more than a decade serving her community through Girl Scouts.
This year, the Valley Stream resident reached the organization’s highest achievement, earning the Girl Scout Gold Award for a project designed to help young people become more informed and engaged voters.
Herrera was among 67 young women from across Nassau County recognized by Girl Scouts of Nassau County during the 2026 Gold Award Ceremony at The Inn at New Hyde Park. The Gold Award recognizes Girl Scouts who identify a community issue, build a team and create a sustainable solution that continues making an impact after the project is complete.
“The 2026 Gold Award Girl Scouts are an extraordinary group of young women, and what they have accomplished goes far beyond the projects they completed,” Rande Bynum, chief executive officer of Girl Scouts of Nassau County, said in a statement. “Through this experience, every one of them built real, transferable skills in leadership, problem-solving, public speaking and project management that will give them an edge in college, in their careers, and in every community they are a part of for the rest of their lives. We are so proud of each of them, and of the lasting impact they have already made right here in Nassau County.”
A graduate of Valley Stream South High School, Herrera will attend St. John’s University this fall, where she will study business in the Peter J. Tobin College of Business as a member of the Honors College. She plans to attend law school after earning her undergraduate degree and hopes to become a corporate lawyer.
Her Gold Award project, Civics4Success, addressed what she identified as a growing disconnect between young people and civic participation by creating an accessible, nonpartisan online resource for first-time voters. The website simplifies civic engagement through voter registration guides, explanations of government roles, research tips and an interactive political alignment quiz. Herrera also presented the resource through library workshops and community outreach events across Long Island.
Herrera’s interest in government and public service developed through both her academic work and extracurricular activities. During high school, she served as co-captain of the South High School mock trial team, was vice president of the yearbook club, a member of cultural society and participated in dance throughout her childhood. She is also interning for Nassau County Legislator Cynthia Nuñez.
Her Girl Scout journey began in kindergarten, when she joined the organization at the encouragement of her parents. More than 13 years later, she credits Girl Scouts with helping shape many of her interests while exposing her to experiences that extended beyond the classroom.
Through camping trips, volunteer opportunities, leadership activities and friendships formed within her troop and at Camp Blue Bay, Herrera said she developed a lasting appreciation for community service and discovered new interests in a supportive environment. Those experiences also introduced her to people and opportunities she believes she would not have encountered otherwise.
That foundation eventually inspired her Gold Award project.
While taking AP Research in high school, Herrera focused her research on politics and government. As she searched for credible information, she found many government resources difficult to understand because they relied heavily on legal and technical language.
“I realized that if someone who was highly motivated and academically invested in the topic, as I was at that time, struggled to understand the political system, then the average young person with no prior interest or background would likely find it even more intimidating, if not just flat out disinteresting,” Herrera said.
She also recognized that although political information is readily available on social media, it is not always accurate or impartial. Those experiences motivated her to develop Civics4Success as a resource that presents reliable civic information in a format designed to be accessible to younger audiences.
Creating the website required Herrera to learn new technical skills while continually expanding its content based on feedback from mentors and community members. The site explains how different levels of government function, identifies elected offices, provides voter registration information, explains New York’s primary election system, lists polling resources and includes information about contacting elected officials.
To make the site more interactive, Herrera developed a political alignment quiz designed to help users explore their own political views while learning about civic participation. She also continued refining the website by adding resources in response to questions and suggestions she received throughout the project.
“My goal wasn’t to tell people what to believe in,” Herrera said. “It was to ensure that they had access to reliable information, so they could form their own informed opinions. I believe every young person deserves that opportunity and deserves to have it almost catered to them.”
For Herrera, earning the Gold Award represented more than completing a service project. It provided an opportunity to combine her longstanding interest in law and politics with a project intended to continue benefiting the community after her direct involvement ended. She also valued the opportunity to meet fellow Gold Award recipients whose projects addressed a wide variety of community needs.
“I think it’s honestly so beautiful,” Herrera said. “You can learn so much from someone just about hearing from their Gold Award.”
The Girl Scout Gold Award is the organization’s highest honor and is open to Girl Scouts in grades 9 through 12. Participants identify a civic or social issue that is personally meaningful, develop a plan, build a team and implement a sustainable solution designed to create lasting community impact. Projects completed by Gold Award recipients have included programs at local schools, books donated to library collections, community installations and digital resources with broad reach.
According to recent research, Gold Award Girl Scouts are more likely to serve in leadership roles and remain civically engaged than their peers. 87 percent of Gold Award Girl Scouts said earning the award gave them skills that help them succeed professionally, while 72 percent said it helped them receive a scholarship. In addition, 99 percent of Gold Award alumnae go on to take leadership roles in their everyday lives.
As Herrera prepares to begin college, she plans to continue pursuing the interests that inspired her Gold Award project. Although her long-term goal is a career in corporate law, her commitment to civic engagement and public service remains central to her plans.
For younger Girl Scouts considering the Gold Award, Herrera encourages choosing a project that reflects a genuine personal passion, building a strong support system and viewing feedback as an opportunity to strengthen a project and increase its impact.
For more information about Girl Scouts of Nassau County, including opportunities to join, volunteer, reconnect or donate, visit gsnc.org.
