SAGE USA, the nation’s largest and oldest organization advocating on behalf of LGBTQ+ seniors, presented its Advocacy Award for Excellence on Aging on Sunday, Jan. 28, to Imani Woody, Ph.D., D.C.’s longtime LGBTQ+ seniors advocate who’s leading efforts to open a D.C.-based home for LGBTQ+ elders.
SAGE CEO Michael Adams presented the award to Woody during a morning plenary session for the National LGBTQ+ Task Force’s annual Creating Change Conference, which was held at the Wardman Park Marriott Hotel in D.C. last week.
“We are honored to present our Advocacy Award to Dr. Woody for always being a steadfast friend of SAGE and for energizing the advocacy work of the LGBTQ+ elder community,” Adams said. “Dr. Woody’s passion and leadership for issues that affect LGBTQ+ elders is helping crack the wall of invisibility that often surrounds them,” he said.
Among her many LGBTQ+-related endeavors, Woody is the founding director and CEO of Mary’s House for Older Adults, which is expected to open in the near future as a residential facility for LGBTQ+ seniors in D.C.
A statement released by SAGE says Woody has been an “advocate of women, people of color and LGBTQ+/Same Gender Loving issues for more than 20 years.” It says she currently works as a diversity and inclusion consultant in the field of health, aging, and issues “affecting the LGBTQ+/SLG and people of color communities.”
She also serves as a member of Mayor Muriel Bowser’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Council.
“I am humbled and deeply honored to receive the SAGE Advocacy Award to acknowledge the work I do on behalf of LGBTQ+ elders every day and for the last 20 plus years,” said Woody, who has a Ph.D. in Public Service Leadership with an emphasis in non-profit management.
“You know when you are doing the work you love, you don’t necessarily see people looking at what you’re doing,” she said. “You’re looking for results to help your tribe.”
