YWCA honors Venus Williams
Tennis champion feted as phenomenal woman
The YWCA Greater Los Angeles (YWCA GLA) will honor tennis champion and businesswoman Venus Williams at its upcoming Phenomenal Woman Awards Luncheon on July 13, at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. The theme of the event is Saluting Women Who Change the Game.
The Phenomenal Woman Awards fundraiser annually draws Southern California’s top woman executives and leaders to salute their accomplishments before an audience of the Los Angeles business community. Proceeds from the event benefit the YWCA GLA Job Corps program and Urban Campus.
The YWCA GLA Job Corps program serves underprivileged youth, ages 16-24, and offers housing, vocational training, and support to ensure their self-sufficiency upon program completion.
Faye Washington, CEO of YWCA GLA, said, “We are thrilled to salute Venus Williams with the Phenomenal Woman of the Year Award. Venus Williams exemplifies the YWCA’s mission of ‘eliminating racism, empowering women.’ She also is the quintessential example of our event theme, Saluting Women Who Change the Game. We are so proud of her accomplishments on and off the court and so grateful to her for embracing our Job Corps program and students.
Our Job Corps students are electrified with excitement that she is coming to speak at their graduation, which is just one of the many things Venus has done to shine a light and draw support for our organization and our students.”
Williams will participate in a host of events to support the YWCA GLA Job Corps program during a two-day visit to Los Angeles, including a book signing July 13 from 10-11 a.m. for her new book, “Come to Win,” at Barnes and Noble at The Grove at Farmer’s Market. A portion of the book sale proceeds will be donated to the YWCA GLA Job Corps program. Williams’ visit will conclude July 14 at 10:30 a.m. as the guest speaker for the YWCA GLA Job Corps graduation ceremony at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Without a doubt Venus and Serena Williams are two of the most important women in the world of tennis to date. And coming to theaters on May 10, audiences will get an up close and personal look at their lives in the documentary “Venus and Serena.”
(CNN) -- Second seed Maria Sharapova dropped just four games on Friday as she swept aside six-time grand slam winner Venus Williams 6-1 6-3 in the third round of the Australian Open.
The win continued Sharapova's imperious recent of form. The Russian, a winner of the Melbourne event in 2008, became the first woman to not concede a single game in her first two matches at a grand slam since 1985.
As the Olympic Games unfold in London, Southern Californians will be happy to note that there are a number of Black local athletes competing, not only in popular sports such as track and field, but in a few of the lesser known sports such as fencing and taekwondo.
“Saluting Women Who Change the Game,” was the theme at Tuesday’s YWCA Greater Los Angeles Phenomenal Woman Award luncheon at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles which recognized tennis champion and businesswoman Venus Williams, “Phenomenal Woman of the Year.”
