A video introduction to SisterLove.

 At its sixth annual 2020 Leading Women’s Society Awards, SisterLove honored 20 women from across the country who’ve been living with HIV for at least 20 years and have been fighting the AIDS epidemic.

The red carpet event was held October 16 in Atlanta, according to a press release from SisterLove, the Georgia-based nonprofit focused on the needs of women living with and at risk of HIV. Actress and HIV/AIDS advocate Sheryl Lee Ralph received the Pandora Singleton Ally Award for her 20 years of service as an HIV-negative ally.

Started in 2009 by SisterLove, the 2020 Leading Women’s Society is a program that “provides resources, training, health and research literacy, education, mentoring and development programs to increase the leadership capacity of HIV-positive women who are engaged in representing their communities through education, peer support, and policy and community advocacy. 2020 leaders are trained and mentored to address key barriers and stresses that prevent or inhibit women from actively engaging in managing their sexual and reproductive health and generating income that secures their independence and economic empowerment.”

The goal is to induct 2,020 women into the society by the year 2020.

“There is no better inspiration for leadership and determination than what we find with our 2020 Leading Women,” said SisterLove president and CEO Dazon Dixon Diallo in a press release. “With their love and their lives they show us courage, wisdom and grace in the long fight to end HIV. We are proud to recognize their strength and their vision for change.”

This year’s awardees are: Cynthia Taylor, Lillibeth Gonzalez, Aracelis Quinones, Karen Loftin, Marian Nogueira, Cynthia Herring-Solomon, Waheedah Shabazz, Franceina Hopkins, Beverly Franklin Simone, Kimberly Sparrow, Melissa Dennis Baker, Sherri Henigan, Patricia Migliore, Cierra Foxx, Maritza DeJesus, Patricia Semiens, Joyce Belton, Susan Mull and Dethress Ulmer-Lesley.