Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan honors Nya Mays with the most prestigious award in the world for girls: the Girl Scout Gold Award. Nya, of Rochester Hills, is among 14 young women who have taken the initiative to bettering their communities through sustainable community change projects. The time and commitment they’ve dedicated towards these projects prove they’re true leaders and exceptional examples for all girls to look up to.

The Gold Award is Girl Scout’s highest honor and is presented to Girl Scouts who address a community issue or problem they are passionate about. They’re required to spend at least 80 hours investigating the problem, creating a plan and implementing it.

For her Gold Award project, Nya took action against climate change by educating community members and her school about environmental issues. Seeing the depleting environment around her, Nya decided to speak up against it. She created the Environmental Club which allows students to discuss environmental problems and their implications. Within this club, new events and projects are being introduced every year, including an Earth Day convention and the Eco-Bricks project. The result is a place where people can come together to make the world a better place.

“I was able to become open enough to receive constructive criticism and allow that to help build a better me.”