Meet WORLD's Speaker's Bureau
Rebecca Denison
Rebecca Denison was infected with HIV in 1983. She found out 7 years later, when she was 28 years old, and a few weeks away from starting law school. At the time, the average life expectancy for women from diagnosis to death was 6 months.
Expecting to die soon, she dropped plans to attend law school. Nine months later, she started an organization by and for HIV+ women in her living room and called it WORLD. Over the next 12 years, she was WORLD's newsletter editor, executive director, and treatment educator.
In 2003, Rebecca left WORLD to pursue other interests. Today, Rebecca lives in Berkeley, California with her husband Daniel, and their 11-year old twin daughters. Daniel and their girls are all HIV-negative. Rebecca has been living with HIV for 24 years. However, she continues to be involved with the women and organization she came to care so deeply about. She credits the women of WORLD for giving her support and courage to pursue her dreams, and make them come true.
Sharon Gambles
My name is Sharon Gambles I’m 44 years of age. I have been HIV+ for 17 years. I am a proud single mother of three fine kids: a male child 19, female 17, and 10 year old male. I have been working in this field for a little over 5 years. I love making a difference in a woman’s life by sharing my story of living with HIV in my life. I love the work that I do for myself as well as others.
Lizabeth Bates, Client Navigator
I am a 54-year-old mother of two daughters and grandmother of three. I was born and went to school in Oakland. I tested positive in 1993 and started working in the HIV/AIDS field in 1998. I joined WORLD in 2006 as a Client Navigator with the LINCs program. I help women who have fallen out of care to return to care and stay there. I help women get to their doctors appointments and/or to connect with services to meet needs such as food or clothing. In the course of connecting with women, I spend time talking with them about safer sex and other prevention options.
