Go to categories Highest Awards

GOLD AWARD SPOTLIGHT: AMARA OBARAY

For her Girl Scout Gold Award, Amara Obaray focused on improving access to early intervention therapy services for children with special needs in underserved communities.

Amara partnered with a local provider of early intervention services that supports low-income families in Harrison, NJ and Bayonne, NJ. Through this partnership, she worked to identify and educate parents and educators in daycare centers, elementary schools, and pediatrician offices about available therapy services. She conducted information sessions designed to address barriers to access and increase awareness among families who may not know these services exist.

To reach as many families as possible, Amara created a marketing brochure and translated it into multiple languages. She distributed these materials to more than 30 daycare centers, elementary schools, and pediatrician offices throughout the community. Within three months of implementation, the provider reported an approximately five percent increase in the number of children utilizing their services.

Amara was motivated by the challenges special needs children ages 2–15 face when trying to access early intervention care, including limited awareness, financial constraints, and cultural differences that can lead to disparities in outcomes. She wanted to help reduce those barriers and connect more families to the support available to them.

The Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor in Girl Scouting, recognizes girls who identify a need in their community, take the lead in addressing it, and create solutions that continue beyond the life of their project. Amara ensured sustainability by working with the provider’s marketing manager to continue hosting monthly information sessions and distributing her brochures at the locations she identified, allowing the outreach to continue after her direct involvement.

For Amara, Girl Scouts has been one of the most formative experiences of her life. She credits the program with helping her grow in confidence, character, and purpose, and with teaching her that leadership means showing up, listening, and serving others. Those lessons guided her work and continue to shape how she approaches making a difference.

Congratulations to Amara on earning the Girl Scout Gold Award and for helping more families connect with critical early intervention services in their community.

January 30, 2026