Maya Angelou and Molly Barker Honored

Maya Angelou and other North Carolina women were honored on September 29th, 2012 for their work to improve the lives and health of women during a benefit for the Maya Angelou Center for Women's Health & Wellness at Forsyth Medical Center. The benefit was the final event of a three-day health summit.

-Angelou received the Lifetime Achievement Award during "An Evening Celebration of Women" for encouraging women to be their own advocates and for her partnership with the medical center to establish the center, which opened in July.

-Medge Owen, a professor at the Wake Forest School of Medicine and an obstetric anesthesiologist at Forsyth Medical Center, received the Global Women's Health Award for her Kybele organization, which supports safe, low-cost childbirth practices around the world.

-Molly Barker, a Charlotte entrepreneur who founded Girls on the Run, received the National Women's Health Award for her organization's success in building self-esteem and active lifestyles among girls.

-Camille McGirt of Raleigh, a public health major at UNC Chapel Hill, received the Regional Women's Health Award for her organization, Healthy Girls Save the World, which promotes healthy minds, bodies and relationships in North Carolina among girls 8 to 15.

"These women are trailblazers making a difference in the lives of women here and around the world," said Dr. Chere Gregory, director of neurosciences at Forsyth Medical Center and organizer of last week's Maya Angelou International Women's Health Summit.

source: Winston-Salem Journal