SISTERLOVE, INCORPORATED CONTINUES TO SHINE THE SPOT LIGHT ON HIV POSITIVE WOMEN LEADERS AT THE 7TH ANNUAL 2020 LEADING WOMEN’S AWARDS
(Atlanta, Georgia) – September 1, 2016 - On Friday, October 14, 2016 SisterLove, Incorporated will host the 7th Annual 2020 Leading Women’s Society Awards in honor of 20 outstanding women from across the country that have lived with HIV for more than 20 years and have served as vocal positive leaders and advocates in their local communities. In addition to the 20 women who are being honored, Deon Haywood of Women with A Vision will be given the Pandora Singleton Ally Award for her 20 years of service as a non-positive ally in the movement. The 2020 Leading Women’s Awards is being held at the Georgia Freight Depot, 65 Martin Luther King Drive, Atlanta, Georgia. Red carpet coverage begins at 6:00 pm and dinner begins at 7:00 PM. The 2020 Leading Women’s Awards, is more than just a spectacular night. This event is a part of the 2020 Leading Women’s Society which is a component of SisterLove’s Positive Women's Leadership Project. The 2020 Leading Women’s Society provides resources, training, education, mentoring and support to increase the leadership capacity of HIV positive women to engage in community representation, prevention and support, policy and advocacy, and social change. “There is no better inspiration for leadership and determination than what we find with our 2020 Leading Women”, says Dazon Dixon Diallo, President and CEO of SisterLove, Inc. “This is our 7th year of celebrating these phenomenal women in this way. We want to continue to tell the story of how women have changed and eventually how they will end this epidemic around the world”. The society, which began in 2009 currently has 160 members and has an overall goal of putting a stronger face on the epidemic throughout the nation by engaging inspiring HIV positive women in leadership roles on the local, regional, and national level. The program seeks to engage and train 2,020 women by the year 2020 around the world in an effort to tell the story of how women changed the epidemic of HIV. The awards gala is followed by the 2020 Leadership Institute, which is a special convening of all 2020 society members to discuss issues related to the growth and structure of the movement, as well as to build leadership skills. Each of the awardees has shown tremendous strength and leadership in their own right. The 2016 2020 Awardees are Deloris Dockery (New Jersey), Darlene Robertson (Louisiana), Teresa Sullivan (Pennsylvania), Willnette Cunningham (Virginia), Silvia Valerio (California), Lynda Faye Wilson (Connecticut), Mary Stokes-Glenn (Florida), Tracey Dannemiller (Florida), Phyllis Malone (Georgia), Claire Gasamagera (Michigan), Royce Parker (Virginia), Cecilia Ross (Texas), Stacy Jennings (South Carolina, Evelyn Scott (South Carolina), Armelda Simpson (Missouri), Kathleen Griffith (Illinois), Susan LarkinMahoney (Connecticut), Maria Mejia (Florida), Syndi Gonzalez (Puerto Rico), Wanda Burgos (Virgin Islands). Awardees and guests will have the opportunity to walk the red carpet and enjoy a night of entertainment, food, drinks, and a community of women leaders poised to change the face of HIV/AIDS. Tickets are on sale for $125. In order to purchase a ticket or to donate to the event please visit http://www.2020LWS2016.eventbrite.com . All proceeds will benefit SisterLove, Inc. and will help to continue building on the legacy of these women leaders and their roles in ending the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The 2020 Leading Women’s Awards and Institute is sponsored in part by Gilead Sciences. For more information, please contact Tiffany Omi Pennick at tpennick@sisterlove.org or (404)369-3097. More information may also be found on SisterLove’s website at www.sisterlove.org .
About SisterLove SisterLove is the first and largest non-profit in Georgia to focus specifically on the needs of women at risk for, or living with, HIV and AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. SisterLove has been on a mission for the last 26 years to eradicate the adverse impact of HIV and AIDS and other reproductive health challenges on all women and their families through education, prevention, support and human rights advocacy in the United States and around the world.