Audre
Lorde Scholarship Fund:
2006 Sponsors
| A long-time community activist and organizer, Mary Anne Adams serves as board Chair of ZAMI and is the founder of the Audre
Lorde Scholarship Fund. Since 1999, she has founded Sister
Outsider with a focus on lesbians and aging issues, Madam
Productions which fosters community through musical and
literary expression and Drum Sista, a drumming performance group for lesbians
of color. Adams has a Master of Social Work from Georgia State University and
makes her living as a Senior Program Associate/Project Manager at Emory
University School of Medicine, while also running her own business, The
Adams Research Group. |
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Tony Daniels Community Ally Award
Anthony C. Daniels (1965 – 1998), was one of Atlanta’s most
powerful organizers and activists. Daniels was a founder of In
The Life Atlanta, Inc., of ADODI Muse, Inc., and of the Black
Lesbian & Gay Poets Society. This scholarship is funded by
ADODI Muse, Inc: A Gay Negro Ensemble, the black gay male performance
poets’ collective. Muse members, Duncan E. Teague, Malik M.L. Williams
and Anthony Antoine specifically recognize Daniels’ work to build bridges
across diverse communities. |
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| Founded in 1972 (and functioning through 1994), ALFA (Atlanta
Lesbian Feminist Alliance) was the first publicly out lesbian
organization in Atlanta. Its founding members came from many
different social justice and activist backgrounds, including the
women’s liberation, anti-war/peace, anti-imperialist and socialist,
civil rights, and gay liberation movements. It established the first women’s only
space in the region and made the space available not only for ALFA meetings,
consciousness-raising groups and events, but for other lesbian and feminist
groups. |
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| Wendy Belkin was born in Cleveland, Ohio. She took her last
accounting final in August, 1979, got in her car, and drove to
Atlanta. She has been here ever since. Belkin practices law and
accounting in her own small practice in Decatur and has been a
long-time supporter of Charis Books, Charis Circle and ZAMI.
She is an amateur astronomer and photographer. |
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| Edith Biggers, MD is a public health physician who delivers
compassionate and state-of-the-art medical care to indigent,
uninsured, underserved, and substance using HIV positive
patients, with an emphasis on maximizing self-empowerment
through education. Additionally, she has been a volunteer at AIDS
Survival Project for more than 10 years. As an African American woman specializing
in HIV care and treatment, her presence has an empowering effect on
those the Project serves. Dr. Biggers is a native of Atlanta and received her MD
from Emory University School of Medicine. |
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| Miya T. Binta is a proud 2001 Audre Lorde Scholarship recipient
and is delighted to contribute to the legacy established by this
scholarship fund. She is currently transitioning her disaster
management experience into the private sector where she is
owner of Disaster Protection Services, and inventory and asset
management firm. She also serves as a board member for ZAMI, Inc. and SKIL,
and adult literacy program serving Rockdale, Newton and DeKalb Counties. |
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| Linda Bryant, co-founder of Charis Books and Charis Circle, has
been lovingly involved with ZAMI since its inception. Her formal
education is in English from the University of Florida and in
theology from the Candler School of Theology at Emory, but her
life lessons come from her years of daily engagement with the
wonderfully diverse and committed community she meets at Charis, from
her long-term love with Wendy Belkin, and from being a parent and now
grandparent. Bryant's desire to serve Spirit with integrity and grace is at the
heart of her life. |
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| Sheryl Burke is a Personal Injury Attorney who operates her own
law practices based in Georgia and California. Burke, a native of
Los Angeles, California, is a graduate of St. Louis University Law
School and is a member of the National and Georgia Trial
Lawyers’ Association. |
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| Cherie Caldwell is Managing Director, Human Resources at
Delta Air Lines, Inc. Caldwell has global responsibility for Talent
Acquisition, Retention and Diversity for the fastest growing
international passenger airline carrier. In her newly appointed
role, she is accountable for building global strategies and
implementing programs to optimize the hiring and retention of critical and
diverse talent. Caldwell graduated with honors from the University of Maryland
where she majored in Human Resources Management. She currently holds a
professional SPHR certification and lives in Atlanta. |
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Sarah Crymes and Rhonda Freeman
Sarah Crymes is a business woman specializing in healthcare
administration (MBA/MHSA from University of Michigan). Her
passion is building lesbian and feminist communities in Atlanta.
She is currently serving as board chair for Charis Circle and
previously served as board chair for Fourth Tuesday. Rhonda Freeman, Ph.D.,
is an engineer who loves all things related to math and science. She also loves
her home state of Florida, poodles, swimming and her family. She has been
known to have an obsession with puzzles. |
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| Fourth Tuesday is a diverse, non-profit organization serving the
LGBT community in Atlanta and the Southeast. It has been
dedicated to providing a safe, caring, and welcoming environment
for business networking and social events for over 20 years. |
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| A native of Louisiana, K.M. Griffin is a graduate of Louisiana State
University. She has worked over 15 years in the energy and utility
industries, where she currently serves as a Manager in the area of
Legal and Regulatory Compliance. Griffin makes her home in a
suburb of Atlanta, GA where she is an advocate for elderly and
HIV/AIDS concerns. |
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| Angelina Huguely is a native of Kentucky and graduate of Eastern
Kentucky University. She is an occupational therapist and has
practiced in settings ranging from pediatric to geriatric populations.
In addition to being a health care professional, Huguely has been a
saxophonist since elementary school. She enjoys all music genres,
but receives greatest satisfaction while performing gospel. |
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The Margaret Ntombi Howell
Power & Presence Memorial Award
Ntombi (1951-2003), as a national spokesperson, transformed the
concept of recovery into a universal human experience for all
people. She was an advocate and activist for the rights of women,
people of color and the poor. This award is funded by Rhesa
Jenkins and Ama Saran. Rhesa Jenkins is a Stanford educated
scientist with a commitment to continuous education in community
settings, such as CAU and ANDP’s Ford Foundation program in
Community Economic Development. Saran’s work is best
described as a social ministry that teaches the importance of
researching community health, mental and physical, to support the efforts of
non-profit organizations in creation of sustainable institutions. |
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| Rev. Dr. Kathi E. Martin is a speaker/preacher with particular
concern for bridge-building across the divides of race, religion,
gender, age, sexual orientation, and physical ability. Rev. Martin,
a pastor at First Metropolitan Community Church of Atlanta, was
pressured to leave her African Methodist Episcopal church in 1998
after sanctifying a same-sex marriage. A minister’s daughter, Martin grew up
proud to belong to a historical black church that was founded on liberation.
But, she said, “I think it will be years before I would be comfortable in a
traditional church.” |
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| Brinda Taylor is a native of Jackson, Mississippi and studied
Therapeutic Recreation at the University of Mississippi and Jackson
State University. She is currently employed as a Project Manager for
Verizon Business (formerly MCI/Worldcom) She dedicates her
time/life volunteering for several organization in the Atlanta area
such as Hands on Atlanta, CRN (Children Restoration Network), Juvenile
Diabetes, and the AIDS Walk. Taylor is currently the Community Action
Coordinator for Alpharetta Verizon employees. |
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