FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 24, 2018
Contact:
Christina Da Costa, SAGE Communications Director
Advocate and leader of diverse LGBT community
to be honored at Creating Change Conference in Washington, D.C.
[New York] SAGE, the nation’s largest and oldest
organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBT elders, will present Dr.
Imani Woody the SAGE Advocacy Award for Excellence on Aging Issues at this
week’s Creating Change Conference headed by the National LGBTQ Task Force in
Washington, D.C.
“We are honored to present our Advocacy Award to
Dr. Woody for always being a steadfast friend of SAGE and for energizing the
advocacy work of the LGBT elder community,” says Michael Adams, SAGE CEO, “Dr.
Woody’s passion and leadership for issues that affect LGBT elders is helping
crack the wall of invisibility that often surrounds them.”
“I am humbled
and deeply honored to receive the SAGE Advocacy Award to acknowledge the work I
do on behalf of LGBT elders every day and for the last 20-plus years,” Dr.
Woody says. “You know when you are doing the work you love, you don’t
necessarily see people looking at what you’re doing. You’re looking for results
to help your tribe.”
Dr. Imani Woody is the founding director and CEO
of Mary’s House for Older Adults, Inc., and has been an advocate of women,
people of color and LGBT/Same Gender Loving issues for more than 20 years. She currently
works as a diversity and inclusion consultant in the field of health, aging,
and issues affecting the LGBTQ/SGL and people color communities. She has
presented on LGBT aging issues at the White House National LGBT Elder Summit
and at the 2017 National Equality March for Unity and Pride. Dr. Woody is a
member of the National LGBT Elder Housing Initiative, a mayoral appointee to
the D.C. LGBTQ Advisory Council, and is the Program Officer for the Older
Adults Advisory Council for Metropolitan Community Churches. She a Board member
of the LGBT Technology Partnership and has served on many boards, including the
Mautner Project and the Women in the Life Association.
Dr. Woody serves as a spokesperson to legislative and non-legislative audiences as well for local, national, and international press outlets. As a licensed Standards of Excellence Consultant, Dr. Woody’s specialty is to work with nonprofit organizations to develop stronger Boards of Directors and more engaged staff. She is adept at structuring and facilitating strategic planning processes, including changes in organizational focus, identification of objectives, and implementation of long and short-term goals. Formerly a training specialist for the AARP Foundation, Dr. Woody developed curriculum and delivery of on-site and web-based trainings. She trained substantive experts to become trainers through the Train-the-Trainer program and provided on-going technical assistance to field trainers. Dr. Woody has been a life coach for more than 10 years and is the founder and principal of Living Life Like It’s Golden, a six-part program that empowers people to live their lives more fully through visioning. She has a PhD in Public Service Leadership with an emphasis in Non-Profit Management from Capella University and a Master’s Degree in Human Services from Lincoln University. She lives with her wife of 17 years in the Brooklyn and neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Dr. Woody serves as a spokesperson to legislative and non-legislative audiences as well for local, national, and international press outlets. As a licensed Standards of Excellence Consultant, Dr. Woody’s specialty is to work with nonprofit organizations to develop stronger Boards of Directors and more engaged staff. She is adept at structuring and facilitating strategic planning processes, including changes in organizational focus, identification of objectives, and implementation of long and short-term goals. Formerly a training specialist for the AARP Foundation, Dr. Woody developed curriculum and delivery of on-site and web-based trainings. She trained substantive experts to become trainers through the Train-the-Trainer program and provided on-going technical assistance to field trainers. Dr. Woody has been a life coach for more than 10 years and is the founder and principal of Living Life Like It’s Golden, a six-part program that empowers people to live their lives more fully through visioning. She has a PhD in Public Service Leadership with an emphasis in Non-Profit Management from Capella University and a Master’s Degree in Human Services from Lincoln University. She lives with her wife of 17 years in the Brooklyn and neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
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SAGE
is the country's largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the
lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) older adults. Founded
in 1978 and headquartered in New York City, SAGE is a national organization
that offers supportive services and consumer resources to LGBT older adults and
their caregivers, advocates for public policy changes that address the needs of
LGBT older people, provides education and technical assistance for aging
providers and LGBT organizations through its National Resource Center on LGBT
Aging, and cultural competence training through SAGECare. Headquartered in New
York City, with staff across the country, SAGE also coordinates a growing
network of affiliates in the United States. Learn more at sageusa.org.