Linked with Byllye Avery – USA, with An Open Letter to my Sisters, with The Health Care Crisis … , and with the Avery Institute for Social Change.
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Who We Are: Black Women’s Health Imperative, the new name of the National Black Women’s Health Project, is a leading African American health education, research, advocacy and leadership development institution. Founded in 1983 by health activist Byllye Y. Avery, it has been a pioneer in promoting the empowerment of African American women as educated health care consumers and a strong voice for the improved health status of African American women. The organization is gaining the well-earned reputation as the leading force for health for African American women. Black Women’s Health Imperative possesses national stature as the only national organization devoted solely to the health of the nation’s 19 million Black women and girls. Our mission is to promote optimum health for Black women across the life span—physically, mentally and spiritually.
What We Do: Black Women’s Health Imperative seeks to develop and communicate highly effective and beneficial health information, products and programs to African American women. The organization’s aim is to deepen the public’s resolve to invest in health prevention strategies and research that contribute to Black women leading healthier, longer lives. We offer the tools and information for women to give themselves the best self-care to prevent health problems before they occur, to recognize symptoms and early warning signs and to understand all of the options available for their specific health situations. We aim for Black women to become savvy health care consumers, getting the most from their health care system and having strong partnerships with health care providers. We strive to build a strong « SisterForce™ » of Black women who are powerful self-advocates for their personal health, as well as to take action as part of a collective voice for policies and legislation that are in the best interests of the health and well-being of all Black women. Our goal is to be the nexus for trusted health information for Black women, as well as the focal point on Black women’s health issues for women’s organizations, health care providers, researchers, policy makers, the media, health industries and everyone committed to closing the health gaps that exist for Black women.
Toward these ends, our programs have the following aims that literally provide « C.A.R.E. »:
- Community Outreach: We strive to have the largest reach on Black women’s health concerns within Black communities in the United States and throughout the African Diaspora;
- Advocacy: We strive to be the largest, most powerful and influential national advocacy network of Black women advocates for health rights;
- Resources and Research: We strive to be widely recognized and highly regarded as a credible information source by Black women who are healthcare consumers and caregivers, health care practitioners, policy makers, women’s organizations, health industries and the media. We strive to promote important, leading-edge research to increase the body of knowledge on the health of Black women;
- Education: We strive to be the standard bearer for consumer and professional education regarding Black women’s health.
What We Have Accomplished: Exemplary Programs: (full text of ‘about’).