Lisa Shannon, founder of Run for Congo Women, will speak at UAA Jan. 20 as a part of UAA Civil Rights Month

Thursday, Jan. 20, 7:30 p.m.

Wendy Williamson Auditorium

Lisa Shannon founded the first national grassroots effort to raise awareness and funds for women in the Democratic Republic of the  Congo through her project Run for Congo Women. Her group has sponsored more than 1,000 war-affected Congolese women through Women for Women International. These women are raising more than 5,000 children.

Shannon traveled solo into Eastern Congo's South Kivu province for five and half weeks in January and February 2007, and again in May 2008. Prior to Lisa's travels through the Congo, she was named a "2006 Hero of Running" by Runner's World Magazine. O, The Oprah Magazine wrote, "Lisa Shannon read our report -- and started a movement." Lisa presently serves as an ambassador for Women for Women International. She previously owned a photography production company, where she served as an art director and producer. She lives in her hometown of Portland, Ore. A Thousand Sisters: My Journey into the Worst Place on Earth to Be a Woman is her first book.

This event is free and open to the public. A sign language interpreter is available if requested by Jan. 13, 2011.

For more information about the speaker visit: http://www.athousandsisters.com. For more information about this lecture, please contact Student Activities at (907) 786-1219 or events@uaa.alaska.edu.