National Women's Health Network

A Voice For Women, A Network for Change

By Jill Battalen

On November 16th, 75 enthusiastic guests gathered at the NWHN's fall benefit held at Washington, DC’s Goethe Institute. Dr. Vivian Pinn, Director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), was the evening’s guest speaker. The second annual NWHN Barbara Seaman Awards for Activism in Women's Health were presented to honorees Adisa Douglas and Tiffany Reed by NWHN Co-Founder Paula Doress-Worters, co-author of Our Bodies, Ourselves and Ourselves, Growing Older; and NWHN Board member Ninia Baehr, author of Abortion without Apology. Excerpts of the award presentations follow:

Adisa Douglas

Adisa Douglas is an activist and funder whose vision and tenacity led to the flourishing of women-centered reproductive and sexual health programs in the U.S. and abroad. NWHN is extremely pleased to give her an award created to honor and advance Barbara Seaman’s legacy. Barbara and Adisa worked in different arenas, but shared the values of making change by listening to women, respecting women’s experience, and supporting projects that respond to women’s needs. Adisa entered the philanthropic field with core values developed from her personal activism and, through gracious but persistent work, helped use those values to transform philanthropy and generate support for women’s reproductive health.

Adisa learned the value of listening to women while working as a teacher in Tanzania in the early 1970s. In 1977, back in the U.S., Adisa organized the “First National Conference on Sterilization Abuse,” which connected faith-based activists with women personally affected by sterilization abuse, and put women in the center. The conference helped women tell their stories and strategize ways to stop the abuse. The movement against sterilization abuse eventually protected millions of women by forcing changes in hospital procedures both locally and through Federal regulations to protect women’s health and rights.

In 1980, Adisa began working with a consortium of small foundations and individual funders at the Joint Foundation Support. She brought her respect for women’s lives and needs to a world that had not traditionally prioritized women or social change. Adisa entered a world where funds tended to be awarded to successfully written proposals, rather than in response to demonstrated need. Adisa built a network of like-minded women in the funding community and organized a conference entitled, “Women of Color: Building Bridges Between Resources and Needs,” to introduce funders to the work of community-based organizations led by women of color. She worked inside the funders’ community to infuse an awareness of race and class into its focus on popul- ation, and helped funders understand that supporting women includes supporting reproductive health needs, as defined by women. Adisa provided early and crucial support for ways to organize around women’s reproductive health that are now taken for granted. A shining example is her support for the National Black Women’s Health Project (now called the Imperative).

In 1992, she moved to the Public Welfare Foundation in Washington, DC, where she supported emerging reproductive health issues; created the National Network of Grantmaker’s People of Color Caucus; provided leadership to the Funders’ Network on Population as it evolved into the Network on Population, Reproductive Health and Rights; created the Women of Color Working Group at the Funders’ Network; and led support for programs to address female genital mutilation and cutting. The results of Adisa’s work have been both broad and deep. In addition to her essential role in supporting women-led reproductive and sexual health projects, she advocated for other, controversial issues as well. She led funders’ support for needle exchange programs to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS, at a time when President Clinton lacked the courage to provide Federal support for these programs. Adisa is now working on a project to broaden the awareness of, and support for, the emerging Reproductive Justice movement and the significant contributions of groups led by women of color through a new effort, The Catalyst Fund.

The impact of Adisa’s work will endure far into the future. She has been a midwife to change that will continue to improve women’s lives for many years to come. It is for all these impressive contributions that the Network presented Adisa Douglas with the Barbara Seaman Award for Activism in Women’s Health.

Tiffany Reed, DC Abortion Fund

Tiffany Reed received the award for young activist for her outstanding leadership of the board of directors of the DC Abortion Fund. The all-volunteer Fund helps fill the gap between what an abortion costs and what women can afford. She received the Barbara Seaman Award for Activism in Women’s Health because of her skills as an organizer, fundraiser, volunteer coordinator, and inspirational leader.

Tiffany became an abortion activist the first time she accompanied a woman through the procedure. Tiffany’s up-close exposure to the reality of women’s experience of abortion – whether it be a choice, an economic necessity, the result of a birth control failure, an assault – convinced her that every woman deserved support, no matter what the reason for her choice. From that point on, as Tiffany says, she was “called” to this work.

When Tiffany moved to DC, she was astonished by the fact that DC’s own Medicaid dollars did not cover abortion. She got involved in addressing this situation by joining the dedicated women who manage the DC Abortion Fund. She added this commitment to her graduate work in Women’s Studies, a full-time job supporting pro-choice women candidates at Emily’s List, and a part-time job as a counselor on the National Abortion Federation’s hotline.

Tiffany drew on her experience and passion, and built the DC Abortion Fund from an ad hoc group of less than 10 volunteers into an organization supported by over 50 active volunteers. The Fund is easily accessible to women who need assistance paying for an abortion, and helps many women each year. Under Tiffany’s leadership, the Fund raises $4,000 each month, every cent of which goes to help these women.

Tiffany says she does not deserve all of the credit for the Fund’s growth and success (and we recognize how important the board of directors is to a successful organization), but successful organizations also need leaders – and Tiffany Reed is a great leader. NWHN is proud to present her with the Barbara Seaman Award for Activism in Women’s Health and the Network looks forward to working with her to advance women’s health and rights in the years to come.

Look for an announcement in future newsletters for news about the Third Annual Barbara Seaman Award event, which may be held in your city!