Watch The 2023 Black Women Legendary Elders Wisdom Awards!
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Our Honorees
Mary Anne Adams
Mary Anne Adams, the Founder and Executive Director of ZAMI NOBLA (National Organization of Black Lesbians on Aging), has a Master’s Degree in Social Work with a concentration in Community Partnerships and over 25 years of work experience in public health, social work education, community engagement, capacity building, group facilitation, outreach and recruitment, planning, community organizing, and mobilization.
Simone Bell
Simone Bell made national history in 2009, when she was elected to represent Georgia’s 58th House District, making her the first out, Black lesbian to serve in a U.S. state legislature. She has won numerous awards for her work and continues to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community and their protection, as well as serving as a mentor to LGBTQ+ youth who are interested in government.
Earline Budd
Earline is a longtime resident of Washington, D.C.where she has worked in local LGBTQ advocacy for over 35 years. She played an essential role in challenging systemic abuses against transgender sex workers by police and in prisons, and has helped countless people through illness, homelessness, family rejection, poverty, and violence.
Roz Lee
Roz Lee (she/her) serves as Head of Philanthropy at the Equality Fund, a global organization committed to funding feminist futures. Roz is the first-ever Professor of Practice at the Alice Paul Center/Gender Studies and Women’s Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania.
Darlene Nipper
Darlene Nipper is the CEO of Rockwood Leadership Institute. Nipper began working as a health advocate focusing specifically on mental health, substance abuse, and HIV/AIDS. She also served as Deputy Executive Director of the National LGBTQ+ Task Force. She has been out as a lesbian and in a committed relationship since 1996. She became an ordained interfaith minister in 2006.
Donna Payne-Hardy
Donna Payne-Hardy co-founded the National Black Justice Coalition in 2003 in order to advocate for the Black LGBTQ+/SGL community and our issues and served as the First Vice-Chair of the board. Payne-Hardy currently works as the Diversity and Inclusion/ Equal Employment Opportunity Specialist at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington D.C.
E. Denise SImmons
E. Denise Simmons is the former mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts, having served her first mayoral term 2008–2009 term and her second mayoral term 2016-2017. She was the first openly lesbian African-American mayor in the United States. Simmons is a justice of the peace, a notary public, a photo archivist, and family historian.
Nadine Smith
Nadine Smith is the Executive Director of Equality Florida, the state's largest organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. She currently serves as chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Florida Advisory Committee.
Wanda Sykes
Wanda Sykes is a comedienne, actress, and Emmy-award winning writer, who has starred and guest starred on several popular sitcoms. She has also hosted her own late night talk show on Fox, the Academy Awards, and several stand up specials on HBO. After the passing of Prop 8 in California, Wanda officially came out and has been a vocal advocate for marriage equality and LGBTQ+ rights, having participated in the True Colors tour and GLSEN’s Think B4 You Speak campaign.
Beverly Tillery
Beverly Tillery (she/her) is the Executive Director of the New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP), an organization that works to address and end all forms of violence through organizing and education and supports survivors through counseling and advocacy. She has worked as an organizer, popular educator, strategist and staff leader at organizations such as Amnesty International, Service Employees International Union and ACORN.
Dr. Imani Woody
Dr. Imani Woody is the President and CEO of Mary’s House For Older Adults and has served on the board of directors of the Mautner Project for Lesbians, Women in the Life Association, Whitman Walker Lesbian Services and is the former Chair of SAGE Metro DC. More recently, she secured an expert board of advisors and a commitment of $1.2 million from the District of Columbia to begin construction on the first Mary’s House dwelling, a 15-room community residence located in Southeast Washington, DC.