I AM THE CHANGE: THE BLACK WOMEN’S AGENDA, INC. 41ST ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM TOWN HALL & AWARDS LUNCHEON
Weeks away from one of the most hotly contested midterm elections on record, The Black Women’s Agenda, Inc. (BWA) recently hosted its 41st Annual Symposium Town Hall and Awards Luncheon, underscoring the importance of action and activism and encouraging civic engagement.
The Town Hall challenged more than 800 participants to be catalysts for change – change for themselves, their families, and communities. The forum featured a panel of journalists, politicos, and educators who reminded attendees that maintaining a democracy is every citizen’s responsibility. Panelists included: moderator Sheinelle Jones, NBC News Co-Anchor and MSNBC Host; Michael Steele, Maryland Lieutenant Governor from 2003-2007 and former Chair of the Republican National Committee; CNN Political Commentators Symone Sanders and Tara Setmayer, and Cornell Belcher, progressive pollster and political strategist and Founder and President, Brilliant Corners Research & Strategies. Jones also presided over a second workshop that offered advice on living your best life at every age. Among the featured speakers were Sharon Epperson, CNBC Senior Personal Finance Correspondent; Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, President and CEO, Global Policy Solutions, LLC, and Dr. Glenda Glover, President, Tennessee State University and International President, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
“History has its eyes on us, to borrow a phrase, and it’s not just about what our elected officials do in terms of steering the course of this country. It’s what we do,” said Gwainevere Catchings Hess, President, The Black Women’s Agenda, Inc. “Inspiring women to live their best lives requires that we remind them that they not only have a stake in this society but a moral imperative to try to leave this world better than they found it.”
During the Annual Awards Luncheon, a standing-room-only crowd of more than 1,700 elected officials, journalists, corporate and community leaders and members of BWA’s 21 National Collaborating Organizations honored eight women as the personification of action, activism and civic engagement.
Recipients of this year’s BWA awards included:
Stacey Abrams
The Democratic Party’s nominee in the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election. A lawyer, author, and businesswoman, she is the first Black woman to be a major party’s gubernatorial candidate in the United States
Dr. Helene D. Gayle
President and CEO of The Chicago Community Trust, one of the nation’s leading community foundations. The Trust works with donors, nonprofits, community leaders and residents to lead and inspire philanthropic efforts that improve the quality of life in the Chicago area. Dr. Gayle serves on public company and non-profit boards including Colgate-Palmolive Company,The Coca-Cola Company, the Rockefeller Foundation, Brookings Institution, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, New America and the ONE Campaign.
Tina Knowles-Lawson
Entrepreneur, designer and managing partner of the House of Deréon and Miss Tina fashion brands. Ms. Knowles-Lawson is also an author, philanthropist, and the mother of Grammy award-winning recording artists Beyoncé and Solange.
Tanya L. Lombard
Head of Multicultural Engagement and Strategic Alliances, AT&T. Lombard’s responsibilities focus on creating, promoting, and managing AT&T’s brand-messaging to minority communities through the development and stewardship of strategic community-based relations and projects.
The Honorable Sheila Y. Oliver
Lieutenant Governor, State of New Jersey – A former member and Speaker of the New Jersey State Assembly, Oliver is one of only three African-American women to hold statewide office.
Dr. Sandye Poitier Johnson
A renowned educator and retired principal widely credited with raising the academic standards and stature of the Thurgood Marshall Academy for Learning and Social Change in Harlem and helping it earn the prestigious designation as an International Baccalaureate World School.
The Honorable Karen W. Weaver
Mayor, City of Flint, Michigan – As mayor, Dr. Weaver declared a state of emergency in connection with the discovery of unsafe levels of lead in the water residents used for cooking, drinking, and bathing. She became a prominent figure as the resulting crisis and ongoing recovery captured national attention.
Eugena King
An Indianapolis, IN resident and matriculating freshman at Gustavus Adolphus College, a liberal arts college in St. Peter, MN, King was honored as the recipient of BWA’s Bright Futures Award and scholarship.
“What happens next in America is not anyone’s guess, it’s everyone’s business,” BWA President Hess told the gathering. ” As Black women, Black communities, we can vote, make our voices heard and hold elected officials accountable for addressing our interests, or we can stay home, sit on the sidelines and watch the train pass us by. Voting may not change everything, but it enables us to keep the change we seek within our grasp.”
Founded in 1977 in Washington, DC, The Black Women’s Agenda, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(C)3 organization that generates awareness and support for issues that secure, protect and advance the rights of Black women and their families. BWA is comprised of 22 collaborating organizations — sororities, civic, service and faith-based — representing millions of women worldwide.
OTHER NEWS
The Spirit of Change Town Hall
On Saturday, May 18, 2019, The Black Women’s Agenda, Inc. (BWA) hosted faith leaders, activists, elected officials, journalists, and a multicultural audience from across the political spectrum today for Spirit of Change, a frank and expansive town hall conversation, moderated by ABC News Anchor and Correspondent T.J. Holmes, on some of the nation’s most pressing issues, at Washington National Cathedral in the nation’s capital.
July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month
In 2008, the US House of Representatives designated July as Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, which is now known as National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month.
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reports that “racial and ethnic minority groups in the U.S. are less likely to have access to mental health services, less likely to use community mental health services, more likely to use emergency departments, and more likely to receive lower quality care. Poor mental health care access and quality contribute to poor mental health outcomes, including suicide, among racial and ethnic minority populations.”
SPOTLIGHT FEATURE ON JACK AND JILL OF AMERICA, INC.
To be valued and loved. To know who you are and that you have the power to make a
difference. These are the aspirations that most mothers have their children. In 1938, in the midst
of the Great Depression, twenty African-American mothers in Philadelphia came together not to
hope or to dream, but to provide the opportunities, experiences, and life lessons that would
enable their children and others to live these truths. Their group became Jack and Jill of
America, Inc. – an organization that’s mission is as relevant today as it was some 80 years ago.
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JOIN US LIVE NOW for our 46th Annual Symposium moderated by @SymoneDSanders
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BWA 46th Annual Symposium Townhall
Live Stream opens at 8 am EST Live Program begins at 9am - 11am ESTModerated by Symone Sanders-Townsend, Host of...
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Join @SymoneDSanders and @BWA3 live for BWA's Annual Symposium Townhall!
LIVESTREAM: Friday, September 22, 20203, @ 9 am EST.
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Today in #BlackHistory — Unbought and Unbossed, Shirley Chisholm became the first Black Presidential nominee.
She shattered the glass ceiling and I'm beyond proud to represent part of her district! I am because she was.
We fought hard for this because birth control is essential to our reproductive freedom.
This victory will empower folks to make decisions about their bodies & their futures.
Congress must now pass our bill to #FreeThePill & make OTC birth control free for all who need it.
📢 Tonight`s the Night! Join us for an Important Townhall Webinar!
Don’t miss @theblackwomensagendainc and a panel of distinguished experts discussing “I Am The Change: Vaccines For Your Best Health” 🌍.
This Town Hall will increase awareness of critical prevention, testing, and treatment resources for respiratory viruses like COVID-19, flu, and RSV.
🗓️ Date: November 12th
🕣 Time: 8:30 pm ET
Let’s work together to stay informed and healthy. Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_C5pIyDF8Swmsayy8PiMT2Q
#RiskLessDoMore #VaccinesForYourBestHealth #IAmTheChange #BWAInc
You inspired. You encouraged. You remained steadfast.
We thank you being you.
"The fight for the ideals that reflect America at its best: Freedom, opportunity, fairness, and dignity. That is a fight I will never give up." - Vice President Kamala Harris, 2024 Presidential Candidate
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