581081_10151059368187412_953301533_nDear Friends, As 2012 ends and 2013 begins, we are thankful for the incredible blessings and abundance this past year has brought. In 2012, the U.S. Positive Women’s Network was involved in important efforts, including serving as a community partner for the International AIDS Conference, hosting a 3-day leadership summit for 50 powerful HIV-positive women in the South, witnessing the White House establish a federal interagency work group on the intersection of Women, HIV and Violence and strengthening our regional work in coalition and sisterhood. 2012 gracefully captured the bold, brave, and beautiful work of advocates across the country – the work of women living with HIV since the beginning of the HIV epidemic and since the founding of U.S. Positive Women’s Network in 2008. Indeed, we are who we have been waiting for. In 2013, there is much to be done. Women, including transgender women, continue to face health inequities and suffer from the consequences of trauma and gender-based violence. In addition, many people living with HIV are caught in a cycle of economic injustice. These human rights violations among others remain unacceptable to us and we recommit in 2013 to our activism and advocacy for ALL women living with HIV in the United States. With this need for broader and deeper national engagement in mind, Naina Khanna has resigned from WORLD as their Policy Director effective, January 4th, 2013. The Steering and Advisory Committees of the U.S. Positive Women’s Network and other PWN leaders have decided to join her as we explore exciting and innovative ways to advance the visible, powerful leadership of women living with HIV in the U.S. Please stay in touch as we start this exciting new journey in 2013! Best wishes from all of us this holiday season. Wishing you peace, safety, and love. In sisterhood and solidarity, Dawn Averitt Dee Borrego Gina Brown Sharon Decuir Kathleen Griffith Barbara Cardell Jane P. Fowler Patricia Kelly Cinnamen Kubricky Vanessa Johnson Barbara Marcotte LaTrischa Miles Nicole Seguin Waheedah Shabazz-El Teresa Sullivan Evany Turk Acintia Wright