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PERNESSA C. SEELE FOUNDER AND CEO OF THE BALM IN GILEAD,
INC.
 Pernessa
C. Seele is founder and CEO of The Balm In Gilead, Inc., a non-profit, non-governmental
organization whose mission is to improve the health status of people of the
African Diaspora by building the capacity of faith communities to address life-threatening
diseases, especially HIV/AIDS.
The Balm In Gilead’s pioneering achievements have enabled thousands
of churches both in the US and throughout Africa to become leaders in preventing
the transmission of HIV by providing comprehensive educational programs and
offering compassionate support to all persons affected by HIV/AIDS.
As a pioneer in mobilizing and educating faith communities to become engaged
in the fight against AIDS, Ms. Seele is one of the nation’s most prominent
voices on issues of HIV/AIDS and its affect on African people throughout the
world, including African Americans. The Balm In Gilead is currently mobilizing
faith communities in Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania.
As founder and CEO of The Balm In Gilead, Ms. Seele has conceived and implemented
several
innovative programs that are being used nationally and internationally. This
includes The Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS, the premier
program of The Balm In Gilead and now the largest AIDS awareness program in
the United States targeting the African American faith community. Since its
inception in 1989, The Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS
has engaged nearly 10 million churchgoers throughout the United States.
Ms. Seele is the recipient of numerous congressional citations, honors and
awards. In May 2006, she received the prestigious honor of being named a TIME
100 when the national newsmagazine selected her as one of the 100 people “Shaping
Our World” and featured her on the cover of this highly anticipated annual
issue. In January 2006, Ms. Seele was an invited guest of President and First
Lady Laura Bush for the State of the Union Address as a symbol of the President’s
commitment to work with African American churches in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Essence Magazine honored her with three features. In the May 2005 and 35th
Anniversary issue, she was named one of the “35 most beautiful and remarkable
women in the world.” In February 2004, she was featured as “One
of the New Activists” in the tradition of African American’s greatest
heroes” and in October 2003, Essence named her one of “50 Women
Shaping the World”, along with Oprah Winfrey. In 2000, she received the
Congressional Black Caucus Award and in 2001, the African American AIDS Policy
and Training Institute selected her as a “Hero in the Struggle.” She
has appeared as an AIDS expert on numerous international and national television
and radio network programs and has been profiled and quoted in numerous publications,
both in the US and abroad.
Ms. Seele received a Master of Science from Clark Atlanta University. She
is a native of
Lincolnville, South Carolina.
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