Press release:

GLOW Women Rise will honor this year's GRIT Award winners at the second annual Empowerment Forum, which will be held virtually on June 5th.

The GRIT Award is given to women in our community who exhibit tenacity, fearlessness, and spirit in advocating for an underrepresented group in the GLOW region.

This free forum (donations gratefully accepted) encourages the growth and networking of women across the region and it's open to anyone interested in empowering women. Mothers please invite your daughters (adolescents and older).

The focus will be on the International Women’s Day theme -- #ChooseToChallenge.

Discussions and workshops were selected to motivate participants to challenge themselves and each other in the areas of discrimination, personal finance, body positivity, and community. 

The Empowerment Forum will also honor women that our community lost over the past year. People are encouraged to participate in this tribute by submitting a memorial here.

The event's keynote speaker will be author and an award-winning lecturer Tamara L. McMillan, Ph.D.c, CPSC. A Buffalo native, McMillan is also the founder of McMillan Empowerment Enterprises (MEE).

As an agent of change, MEE has shaped the lives of countless girls and women around the world by providing tools of transformation while passionately empowering them to reconnect to their own life’s purpose in order to embrace and narrate their own stories.

GLOW Women Rise is a volunteer-based, not-for-profit organization (registered 501c3), that works to connect women and resources throughout the region while providing support and advocacy.

GLOW Women Rise invites the community to join us for our second annual Empowerment Forum, which will be held virtually on Saturday, June 5. The focus will be on the International Women's Day theme #ChooseToChallenge.

Discussions and workshops were selected to motivate participants to challenge themselves and each other in the areas of discrimination, personal finances, body positivity, and community. The Empowerment Forum is a free event (donations gratefully accepted) and is open to the community. 

As an agent of change, MEE has shaped the lives of countless girls and women worldwide by providing tools of transformation while passionately empowering them to reconnect to their own life's purpose to embrace and narrate their own stories. 

The Empowerment Forum encourages women's growth and networking across the region and is appropriate for adolescents and older, and is open to anyone interested in empowering women! Please encourage participation from the teen and young adult women in your lives.

GLOW Women Rise will also be honoring the GRIT Award winners.

The GRIT Award is given to women within the community who exhibit tenacity, fearlessness, and spirit in advocating for an underrepresented group in the GLOW region. Nominees for this honor can be submitted through the organization's website and are due by May 14.

The event includes taking a moment to recognize the loss of many women in our communities and our families. GLOW Women Rise encourages you to participate in this tribute by submitting a memorial at bit.ly/GWRMemorial.

The Empowerment Forum will be held virtually and can be viewed on computers, tablets, and on most cell phones.

To learn more and register, click here. 

To nominate someone for the GRIT Award or to memorialize someone, please click here.

GLOW Women Rise is a registered 501c3.

GLOW Women Rise is currently seeking nominations for their 2021 GRIT Award.

The GRIT Award is given to women in our community that exhibit tenacity, fearlessness, and spirit in advocating for an underrepresented group in the GLOW region. There are no age requirements for nominees.

This year’s award winners will be honored during the second annual Empowerment Forum, which will be held virtually on June 5th. Tamara L. McMillan, author and an award-winning lecturer, will be the keynote speaker. The forum will also honor women that our community has lost over the past year. 

GLOW Women Rise is a volunteer-based, not-for-profit organization that works to connect women and resources throughout the region while providing support and advocacy.

To nominate or to memorialize someone special, please visit us at GlowWomenRise.org or go to bit.ly/GWRNoms

Deadline for nominations is Friday May 14th.

Press release:

GLOW Women Rise and the YWCA of Genesee County want to help families going back to school. On Monday, Sept. 14th in the City of Batavia's Austin Park, there will be tables set up offering school supplies, voter registration if needed, a light snack and, most important, support for moms!

Mothers and others are invited to come to Austin Park from 6 to 7:30 p.m. to pick up school supplies and have a light snack with other women who understand the ups and downs of "back to school" in the time of COVID-19. People can hang around and chat with friendly faces, or pick up supplies and go. We will have voter registration available as well!

"We thought providing free school supplies would be one way of expressing support for all the women who have been struggling through this unprecedented period in time," said Dorothy Avery, president, GLOW Women Rise. "We have all worked hard trying to figure out what is best for each of our families related to going back to school.

"We asked the YWCA to partner with us and they naturally were enthusiastic about the chance to help. We suspect there will be more upheaval through this school year so if we can introduce women going through the same types of things to each other, it will create a support system for them. Nobody should go through these times alone and we want women to know we are out here and we support them."

Millie Tomidy-Pepper, executive director, YWCA of Genesee County, said "We at the YWCA of Genesee County are pleased to be able to work with GLOW Women Rise to provide school supplies and register people to vote on Monday.

"As the YWCA of Genesee County works to empower women and eliminate racism, we see assisting women and children prepare for school and helping people register to vote to be at the core of our mission. The idea of helping women to join with other women to provide support through difficult times is essential.

"We need each other. We look forward to meeting you next week and to being a part of working together over the next months and years."

Women from anywhere in the GLOW region can come to Austin Park on Monday evening for the free school supplies -- while they last, enjoy light snacks, and register to vote. The park is located at 15 Jefferson Ave.