Divas of Colour International Women’s Awards

Divas of Colour International Women’s Forum was founded by Faustina Anyanwu and the flagship Divas of Colour festival was launched in 2014. The festival comprises the prestigious Divas of Colour awards: which honours women of colour for outstanding achievements and creates opportunity to discover and spotlight, designers, brands and great contributions of women of colour;[1] fashion shows, trade show, and conference, focusing on a particular chosen social or humanitarian topics that affect specifically women of colour.[2]

Divas of Colour International Women’s Forum
Awarded forFestival of celebrating the uniqueness, achievements and contributions of Women of Colour
Presented byDivas of Colour
Faustina Anyanwu founder of Divas of Colour speaking at Divas of Colour Slay in health against gynaecological cancers.

At the first Divas of Colour International Women’s Awards ceremony held in London in March, 2014, five women were honoured for their efforts and accomplishments in bringing dignity and integrity to black women: Maya Angelou, Michelle Obama, Onyeka Onwenu, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, Oprah Winfrey and Betty Makoni. Vanessa NM was voted Diva Face of Colour by the judging panel.[3]

The 2014 awards raised awareness towards domestic violence and funds for the charity Glowing Future. The 2015 ceremony will support the Depression Alliance UK and is set for March 21, 2015 in London at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel London - Docklands Riverside.[4]

Each year, Divas of Colour chooses a social issue to raise awareness on, for 2015 awards, Divas of Colour has chosen to raise awareness on Depression with Depression Alliance UK, launching the campaign Reach Out against Depression.[5] earlier this year

In 2017, The remarkable Divas of Colour International Women’s Forum was held at the prestigious KIA Oval in London. The event saw a dazzling, global mix of fascinating discussions on Gynecological cancers in honour of Dr Nkem Ezeilo, an International Fashion Showcase, graced by designers Afua Sam of Studio Dmaxsi USA and British designer Kwame Koranteng Bespoke Tailoring, and the final highlight of the event – the celebrated International Divas of Colour Awards. Among the high-profile award recipients at the 2017 festival were Baroness Rosalind Howells, Baroness Floella Benjamin and British Olympic champion, Lesley Owusu, Hon Cecilia Ogwal MP Uganda.

Hon Cecilia Ogwal MP flanked by the founder and event manager, Faustina Anyanwu right and Gayle Ngozi Igwebike left

Previous Divas of Colour Award winners include Bianca Miller, Funke Abimbola, Polly Harrar, Rani Bilkhu, Caroline Bell Foster and Leah Charles-King, Diane Abbott MP named Lifetime Achiever, and the list of Women of Honour bringing together Patti Boulaye OBE, Mayor Patricia Ekechi, Mandy Sanghera and Professor F N Obasi. Global Leadership Awards were presented to Stephanie Busari, Debbie Ariyo (OBE) and Pauline Long, while Diva Ambassador Awards went to the inspirational Akua Gyamfi, Nurse Chioma Okeke and Grace Alexander.[6]

Founder Faustina Anyanwu has nurtured the unique Divas of Colour Awards Forum and overseen its growth over the last four years into a global event respected and attended by delegates from across the world. She said, “I’m thrilled to welcome women of all ages and experience once again to the largest gathering of the world’s most influential women of colour. 2017 sees our event elevated to the next level as we embrace guests from all walks of life – world leaders, opinion formers and high achievers – to London’s historic KIA Oval, under the premium sponsorship of WorldRemit. This is now the largest gathering of world’s most influential and inspirational women of diverse background and ethnicity."[1] In summer of 2017, Divas of Colour Forum introduced and hosted the first Divas of Colour career focused conference themed, Women Into Leadership, which will now form its annual career conference every summer. The inaugural conference saw influential women from all walks of life and nation attend on 21 July.[7]

Dr Andrea Cummings speaking at Divas of Colour Conference

Ahead of the 2018 festival, Divas of Colour launches the Mental Health Awareness pledge as part of their campaign tagged Mind Your Mind which will form the basis of their 2018 conference topic on raising awareness on mental health issues within the BAME communities. The pledge encourages women to pay attention to their own needs and take care of their emotional needs too. The pledge is available in print and other media.[8]

Divas of Colour is founded by Faustina Anyanwu,[9] the chief editor of C. Hub magazine[10] the first and only Afro-Creative magazine in the UK.

Divas of Colour Awards categories and criteria for nominations
  • Lifetime Achiever: must be aged 60 and above and have contributed for over a decade in uplifting the dignity of women.
  • Women of Honour – Highly reputable women leaders who have made long term contributions to community, family, career or in the public sector
  • Inspirational Diva – Women doing charitable or not-for-profit works in empowering women and girls
  • International Diva – Women whose international engagements with global organizations take them around the world
  • Entrepreneur Diva – Women how have succeeded in their own business
  • Diva Author – Women who have had their work published within the last 12 months (evidence required)
  • Diva Artiste – Singers, performers and entertainers
  • Diva Presenter – TV or radio presenters
  • Diva Make-up Artist – Professional make-up artists
  • Young Achiever – Women aged between 18 and 20 who have achieved in business, academics, community service, charitable giving or volunteer work
  • Diva Influencer – Opinion drivers, movers and people who are challenging the status quo, and influencing change in careers, public and social media, community, politics etc., particularly those whose voices stand out against the crowd
  • Diva Brand and Fashion Designer – Nominations from exhibiting and showcasing brands and designers

References
  1. "Press Kit: Divas of Colour 2017. All you need to know. – Divas of Colour".
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-08-14. Retrieved 2014-08-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Divas of colour Int. award opens nomination | News Ghana". Spyghana.com. 2014-07-28. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
  5. "Press Release: Divas of colour 2015 launches 'Reach out to someone campaign against Depression in support of Depression Alliance UK. – MBW PR".
  6. "Divas of colour 2016 award finalists – MBW PR".
  7. "Divas of Colour – International Women's Forum".
  8. "Take the Divas of Colour Mental Health Awareness Pledge. – Divas of Colour".
  9. "Faustina Anyanwu – MBW PR".
  10. "C.Hubmagazine – Home for creativity, entertainment, entrepreneurship and leadership".
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.