Dear A Girl Like Me readers,
We are very pleased to share the exciting news below with all of you, today, on National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Also in honor of this day, we would like to tell all the women that blog on A Girl Like Me that we are inspired daily by your honesty and strength, and for sharing your stories with others. We strongly encourage you to take some time to read through the comments left by women from around the world on the blog posts, as the impact you have in helping others feel less isolated and less stigmatized is far and wide. And to those who visit A Girl Like Me, please continue to come back and share this resource with your friends, family and colleagues. Your comments help strengthen the need for this blog and the space for HIV+ women to form an online, global community.
The Well Project Appoints Shalini Eddens, Long-Time Advocate and Educator, to be Executive Director
NELLYSFORD, VA – March 10, 2011 – The Well Project (TWP), the preeminent resource for information about women and HIV, today announced the appointment of Shalini Eddens as executive director of the organization. Ms. Eddens brings more than 10 years of leadership experience in direct service, training, education and advocacy for women living with HIV.
“Shalini is an emerging leader with a deep personal commitment for facilitating change in our community. As a multiracial woman with in-depth experience as an educator and advocate for HIV-positive women, she has a deep understanding of the unique needs of women living with HIV," said Dawn Averitt Bridge, co-founder and chair of TWP. "Shalini is known nationally for her ability to innovate culturally relevant work with a woman-centered approach, which will complement and enhance the work of The Well Project perfectly. I am thrilled to welcome her to the organization.”
“The Well Project has tremendous potential to connect and inspire communities across the globe through our award-winning web portal and innovative social media tools,” said Ms. Eddens. “My goal is to help strengthen and expand TWP as the ‘go-to’ online resource for women and HIV. At a time when we are seeing tremendous change globally, politically, economically and socially, it is critical that we begin to think creatively about how we are educating and strengthening our communities to respond to the HIV epidemic. TWP is poised to be a leader in that shift and I am honored and excited to join the team."
Ms. Eddens most recently served as the director of education and training at WORLD (Women Organized to Respond To Life Threatening Diseases), a national organization by and for women living with and affected by HIV, providing support, education and advocacy. During her tenure at WORLD, she was responsible for the design and delivery of the Lotus Project, a national women’s peer education training and capacity building program. Ms. Eddens led the design and oversight of a number of local and international projects, including a replication of HIV University in South Africa.
Prior to her tenure at WORLD, Ms. Eddens was the women’s program director at Project Inform, a national HIV treatment education and advocacy organization. Recognized as a leader in the field of women and HIV/AIDS, in 2005 Ms. Eddens was invited by the U.S. State Department to India, where she served as a representative of the U.S. government to provide HIV expertise to organizations, social workers, students and medical providers working on HIV/AIDS issues. Ms. Eddens earned her Master’s Degree in Public Health from Emory University, with an emphasis in health education and behavioral sciences.
Access this press release online.
A letter from Shalini in our e-news update.
