Every year, 20 individuals are selected and recognized as those under the age of 20 in East Tennessee who are destined to take the business world by storm. Within the Class of 2019, four of the honorees are Gold Award Girl Scouts! Knox.Biz’s 20 Under 20 honorees were celebrated this year at Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville on Thursday, November 14.

Ariane Burt, Eleni Christopoulos, Kaitlyn Daniels, and Brianna Saylor represent the four women whose Gold Award distinction helped them become recognized as a young, promising leaders.

Ariane Burt, 18, earned the Gold Award with “Doggie Day Trip,” a program she developed for Young-Williams Animal Shelter, which allows individuals to “check out” a shelter dog for a day, giving it exercise, socialization, and visibility. The Farragut High School senior plans to become a neurosurgeon or a researcher of drugs for brain diseases.

Eleni, 17, worked with East Tennessee’s Children’s Hospital neonatal intensive care unit to earn her Gold. There, she gave the parents of babies who passed away in NICU a handcrafted memory box, so mementoes like blankets, footprints, and photographs can be stored. The Knoxville Catholic High School senior wants to study construction management in college and join the Air Force.

Kaitlyn, 19, built an outdoor classroom and pollinator garden with native plants at the newly built Seymour Junior High and Seymour High School, earning her the Gold Award. She is now studying engineering at the University of Tennessee. Kaitlyn also earned the distinction of being one of GSUSA’s Cookie Pro Contest winners earlier this year.

Brianna, 18, a Girl Scout since kindergarten, earned Gold with her lesson plan that teaches fourth and fifth graders about animal and plant adaptions and conservation. She is now a freshman at the University of Tennessee studying biology. She plans to pursue a career in wildlife biology or ornithology.

Congratulations to these go-getters, innovators, risktakers, and leaders!