PWN-USA Welcomes 6 New Members to Its Board of Directors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

The new PWN-USA Board of Directors, September 2015

Contact: Naina Khanna, [email protected] / 510-681-1169

September 1, 2015 – Positive Women’s Network – USA (PWN-USA), the premier voice of women with HIV in the US, is thrilled to announce the appointment of six new members to its Board of Directors: Tranisha Arzah; Bré Campbell; Cathy Elliott; Octavia Y. Lewis, MPA; Venita Ray; and Evany Turk.

“PWN USA is an organization that creates change; in doing so, we develop new leaders and strengthen activists,” says Barb Cardell, PWN-USA’s Board Chair. “As we continue to bring the voices and needs of all women living with HIV to policy, programming, and activism, we stand on the shoulders of the giants who came before us, and it is our duty to lift up our next group of leaders.”

In full accordance with its mission and strategic plan, PWN-USA’s Board of Directors is 100% women living with HIV. Current Board members represent decades of experience working on HIV and intersectional issues, including criminal justice, housing rights, and reproductive justice. The incoming Board members bring an exciting range of expertise and perspectives to an already sumptuous table.

“I’m excited for so many reasons; but I am most excited that I get to share spaces with such a strong and diverse group of women,” says Tranisha Arzah, a new Board member from Seattle, WA, who is already a seasoned advocate at the age of 25. “PWN-USA highlights the intersectionality of social justice issues, and to be part of these positive social changes that affect the lives of all women living with HIV is an honor.”

Adds Bré Campbell, an incoming member of the Board who hails from Detroit: “I am excited to be a PWN-USA Board member, advocating on behalf of trans women of color who are living with HIV. “We must learn to love our full selves to win the battle for equality. We must advocate for and accept all of our intersections.”

Several members will be stepping down from long stints on the Board – among them Vanessa Johnson, a founding member of PWN-USA who also serves as the organization’s National Training and Leadership Development Director. “I have been a part of and have witnessed nearly eight years of organizational growth, achievement, and sustainability,” says Johnson of her time as a Board member of PWN-USA. “With change comes renewal. I will continue to serve as an educator and advocate with PWN-USA, and to support the new members as they join our sisters in leading and moving our cause forward. I congratulate each and every one of them.”

There were a large number of qualified applicants to the open Board positions; PWN-USA’s leadership wishes to thank all who applied for their passion and interest in our work. “I eagerly look forward to working with a new group of Board members,” Cardell says. “While I will miss the sisterhood I have shared with our outgoing Board members, as we seek change in how our culture treats women living with HIV, we also embrace change as an organization – for we are sisters in solidarity, sisters of action, and sisters of change.”