Herstory

Positive Women’s Network (PWN) was founded by 28 diverse women leaders living with HIV in June 2008. PWN’s founding members are diverse in background and experiences –  rural, southern, and urban, of diverse races and ethnicities, and spanning a spectrum of ages, with the youngest 21 and the oldest 72 years old.

Founding members included women born outside the U.S., monolingual Spanish speakers, and transgender women. Founding members’ common thread: they were all HIV-positive and had a deep desire to create a unified voice and build collective power for women living with HIV across the United States.

Since our founding, PWN has established itself as Positive Women’s Network – USA, an independent entity, and continues to develop a leadership pipeline and policy agenda that applies a gender lens to the domestic epidemic grounded in social justice and human rights. PWN-USA’s focus on leadership development of women living with HIV has included trainings on advocacy skills, media and communications, and using a human rights framework for advocacy. PWN-USA’s policy agenda leads the nation in gender-sensitive HIV advocacy that comprehensively addresses the needs of women living with and vulnerable to HIV.

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PWN-USA Announces the Next Chapter in our Development as an Independent Organization

Feb. 6, 2013
Dear community,
Inspired by global networks of women living with HIV and supported by leaders in the United States, Positive Women’s Network (PWN) was officially founded by 28 diverse women living with HIV in June of 2008. 

Its purpose was to create a unified voice and building collective power for HIV-positive women across the United States. When PWN was founded it was with the understanding and goal that one day it would transition from WORLD, an organization which provided a structural umbrella for U.S. Positive Women’s Network to establish itself as an independent organization, in its own right.

That day has come. PWN founding members, Steering Committee members, Advisory Group members and our regional leaders have decided to embark on a new path, a fresh start, in order to fulfill our original mission, advance HIV-positive women’s autonomy, and strengthen our accountability to our national constituency.

Our fresh start includes a new name, logo and website, and the same inspiration and vision that has always guided us. Effective immediately, our name is Positive Women’s Network of the United States of America (PWN-USA).

As PWN-USA, we will continue to represent and advocate for women living with HIV in the United States and remain a part of the national and global People Living with HIV (PLHIV) movement.   

While we have collectively accomplished much over the last several years, we hold the same values and mission that inspired us to join forces on behalf of women living with HIV in 2008. PWN’s leadership remains privileged to serve, lead and represent HIV-positive women in the U.S. We rely on the collective strength of our members and allies to support us as we start a new chapter in the development of PWN-USA. 

We will be issuing a call for all HIV-positive women across the nation to provide input on our new logo, the development of our new PWN-USA website and our 2013-2014 strategic planning process. We encourage you to join us. We can be reached at info(at)pwn-usa.org.

Thank you in advance for your continued support, guidance, and mentorship.

In sisterhood and solidarity,
PWN-USA leadership

Dawn Averitt
Dee Borrego
Gina Brown
Barb Cardell
Sharon Decuir
Yolanda Diaz
Cathy Elliott
Jane P. Fowler
Kat Griffith
Andrea L’amour Harrington
Margot Isaacs
Vanessa Johnson
Loren Jones
Pat Kelly
Naina Khanna
Barbara Marcotte
Pat Migliore
LaTrischa Miles
Sonia Rastogi
Linda H. Scruggs
Nicole Seguin
Waheedah Shabazz-El
Teresa Sullivan
Evany Turk
Juanita Williams