Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this piece are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the position of Positive Women’s Network – USA. 

January 25, 2018

by Olga Irwin, PWN-USA Shero of the Month, January 2018




I am so excited that this April will be the third summit that PWN-USA has held. The last two summits were held in 2014 and 2016, where 250 women gathered to learn and get training in skills to be advocates first for themselves and then in community. This year’s summit is being held in Myrtle Beach and registration is open for over 300 women living with HIV.

 So why is attending this year’s summit so important? There are numerous benefits a woman can get:
  1.  Women from all over the country come together and meet other women, who get share their experiences. These women learn and support each other; most end up developing strong friendship and sisterhood.
  2. The women will learn and be giving skills-building trainings on issues concerning women’s health, policy, communications and legal issues. They will have chance to learn about the different PWN-USA workgroups and regional chapters and how to get involved.
  3. There are going some pre-summit institutes (by invitation only) to provide more in-depth and individualized training.

Let me explain how this has helped one woman. Before I joined PWN-USA, you would only hear me speak up in a small group or board meeting. I would never have written anything down because I have dyslexia. I also had a low self-esteem, because I only knew a few women personally who were advocates. Once I attended my first summit, I was shocked there were 250 women who wanted to be or were advocates. Some of these women I consider legends in the field and I was totally awestruck and thought I could never be in same class as them. PWN-USA staff and other members have given me a chance to become something and do something I love but never thought I would be able to do. I was taught and am still receiving skills in all forms of communications and policy, which now has me very interested in politics, which I did not even understand before. I’ve learned employment skills, how to write a bio, scholarship forms, abstracts for conferences and a resume.

What has this all led to? It led to me achieving things I never thought I ever would. This year I was flabbergasted at what I’ve accomplished through PWN-USA. I received the Trailblazer Award, a lifetime achievement award for advocacy, at the Transforming Care Conference in Columbus, Ohio. I was chosen as one of the POZ 100 in POZ magazine, and PWN-USA Shero for the Month for January 2018. Last year, I made local and national news and arrested 3 times for civil disobedience while protesting ACA repeal. I was given news about U=U and became a steering committee member. I sit on three local boards .

If attending a PWN-USA summit can do all this for one woman, imagine what it will do for many more women too!