In one of the most vogue events of the year, MIUSA rolled out the red carpet to over one hundred MIUSA supporters and community members of Eugene/Springfield on June 25, 2015, who came out in support of MIUSA’s annual fundraiser and celebration, Fashionista Activista.
The event saw the premiere of “The Power of WILD,” a new video documenting MIUSA’s signature exchange program, the Women’s Institute on Leadership and Disability (WILD), and announced the launch of a new campaign to raise funds for a WILD program in 2016.
For the feature presentation, attendees were treated to a unique fashion show featuring 17 international delegates of the WILD Training of Trainers program. As these disabled women activists rolled and strutted down the runway, they exhibited garments traditional to their countries of Albania, Armenia, Barbados, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, El Salvador, Fiji, Ghana, India, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nigeria, Peru, Vietnam, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
However, even more powerful than their fashion statements were their statements of WILD’s impact on their personal and professional achievements. As Karine, a delegate from Armenia who has cerebral palsy, put it: “Before WILD, I was reserved and shy. Now, I hang out with mayors, governors and ambassadors.”
Click here to donate to MIUSA and support its campaign for a WILD program in 2016!
Watch the Power of WILD video (captions and transcript available).
Thank you to all of our sponsors and donors for making this event possible, with special recognition of our top sponsors:
Diamond Sponsors ($5,000 and over)
- University of Oregon, Division of Equity and Inclusion
Gold Sponsors ($3,000–$4,999)
- International Foundation for Electoral Systems – IFES is pleased to support MIUSA’s WILD Program in loving memory of Yusdiana, a tireless advocate for disability-inclusive political processes and a WILD woman.
Silver Sponsors ($1,000–$2,999)
- World Learning
