The Los Angeles Sparks #WeAreWomen campaign began in 2015 in an effort to honor stand-out women and young girls in the Los Angeles community who share our goals of empowering the Los Angeles community and females of all ages. This year, we are honoring five women in 2020 who exemplify the following categories: Health & Wellness, Women & Girls Empowerment, Social Justice, Youth Sports, and Military/Veteran Affairs.
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Meet Our 2021 #WeAreWomen Winner
2021 Woman of the Year
CHARISSE BREMOND WEAVER: CEO, BROTHERHOOD CRUSADE
Charisse is a passionate, dedicated leader in the not-for-profit sector. Her focus and desire are to serve her community and make it a better environment for those she touches and those they touch. Charisse is leading the Brotherhood Crusade that was founded by her late father Walter Bremond in 1968. She’s been the President and CEO of the Brotherhood Crusade for more than 15 years.
Her team directly serves approximately 3,000 low-income youth and young adults between the ages of 10 to 24 daily through various trauma-informed youth development programs and impacts more than 20k youth, young adults and families annually.
Meet Our 2021 #WeAreWomen Finalists
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DR. NANAEFU AFOH-MANIN: FOUNDER, SHARED HARVEST FUND INC.
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TANISHA SAUNDERS: RESIDENT COORDINATOR, SAFE PLACE FOR YOUTHTanisha Saunders has been recognized as a community leader for using her skills to empower others while advocating locally, state-wide and nationally around issues that are close to her past. She has worked as a community organizer with the National Foster Youth Institute and Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, a servant leader with the Children’s Defense Fund, and recently served as one of the Foster Youth Voice Representatives for the Los Angeles County Office of Education. Tanisha has also completed fellowships in the office of LA City Councilwoman Nury Martinez and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority focusing on ending homelessness through community capacity building. Her advocacy efforts have been featured in Cosmopolitan Magazine, Teen Vogue, Spectrum News: In Focus, Dominguez Hills Today Magazine, and other media outlets. She currently works for Safe Place for Youth supporting youth experiencing homelessness and serves as the chair for the organization’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee. |
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LAUREN TROSCLAIR DUNCAN: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HEALING CALIFORNIA
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EBONE SMITH: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WE ARE R.I.S.E.Ebone Smith is an elementary school teacher, and founder of WE ARE R.I.S.E. Inc. Girls’ Mentorship Program in South Los Angeles. Through her nonprofit, Ebone organizes and facilitates culturally informed workshops for young girls of color that focus on strengthening social-emotional development, positive self-esteem, academic wellness, and life skills.
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Meet Our 2021 Male Ally of the Year
DENNIS TUCKER: DIRECTOR OF HR, METRO
Dennis Tucker has tirelessly advocated for his sisters in service and veteran sisters by being the embodiment of strong ally. In uniform, he provided guidance to his command to advocate of the behalf of female service members and their specific needs. After his 22+ year of service in the US Army, he is continued his advocacy efforts to create a pipeline to hire them at LA County Metro. In his position as Director of HR at Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority he has also created a Women Veteran Advisory group to keep him informed of their needs and to aid in the civilian transition and their professional development. He has been quoted many times saying “We are brothers and sisters in arms and service, I would not only fight to the death to protect my sister, but I will also advocate for her.”