HGLHCis pleased to announce that renowned comedian Karen Williams will be this year's entertainment at One Big Event on Saturday, November 14th at the Hilton Hartford Hotel. This annual fundraiser for the state's only health organization devoted to the LGBT community is always a great time. Last year we sold out, so mark your calendar now!
 
Karen is one of the most prominent lesbian comedians working today.  Her new special on the Logo Network, I Need a Snack, was captured live for a sold-out audience at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood. Karen shares her stories about sex, online dating and customer service in the irreverently hilarious way only Karen can deliver.  Now she comes to Hartford to deliver her wisdom in person.
 
As a single lesbian mom living in Berkeley in the 1980s, Karen Williams started doing stand-up comedy "because it was something I could do that didn't cost anything." Known for her quick repartee, insightful commentary and audience rapport, Williams is a comic craftmaster, a gifted actor, a multitalented writer, and an inspirational lecturer. Armed with her "heal with humor" philosophy, she gives humor workshops specifically designed to build self-awareness and self-confidence, and to encourage tolerance and respect for the dignity of human life. She is creator of the Humor-at-Large workshop series and founder of the National Women's Comedy Conference. Featured in the award-winning comedy/documentary "We're Funny That Way," she's shown regularly on HBO and was a nominee for the 1999 GLAMA Award for her outrageously funny comedy CD, "human beings: what a concept" (Uproar Records). As a solo entertainer, Karen Williams delights SRO audiences from San Francisco to South Beach to Sydney. As adjunct faculty at Cleveland State University, Professor Williams taught a Senior Seminar in Stand-Up Comedy.
 
This year, ING is our Biggest Sponsor and Citizens Bank and Van Horst General Contractors are our Really Really Big Sponsors.  Tickets for One Big Event are $100, $150 and $200.  For more information, contact Coordinator Dan Millett at danm@hglhc.org or at (860)278-4163 x18.  For more information and updates, go to our website: www.onebigevent.org.
 
Photos: http://www.logoonline.com/shows/dyn/karen_williams/photos.jhtml
full text.

 

  From a very early age, Ali Svenson has been deeply interested in GLBTQ issues and has sought ways to make a difference in her community.  During junior high and high school she volunteered with the Yellowstone AIDS Project in Montana, working as a peer educator for HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness.  As an undergraduate she did educational outreach with Lawrence University PRIDE for five years, 3 of which while serving as president of the organization.  Most recently, she has been volunteering in the lab at HGLHC during the Thursday evening clinics. 
 
Svenson earned her Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance from Lawrence University Conservatory, where she was a student delegate to the faculty sub-committee on gender studies curriculum development while pursuing premedical studies.  She earned her Master of Music degree in violin performance and pedagogy from Boise State University, and is currently pursuing a post-baccalaureate premedical certificate while completing post-graduate studies in music at the University of Hartford, where she works for the Department of Chemistry as a researcher and lab instructor.  After completing her current degree programs, she plans to attend medical school with aspirations of becoming a surgeon.
 
Svenson is particularly excited about the opportunity that Board membership will afford her to learn ways in which she can best serve the GLBTQ community in her future as a physician.