Venus Williams Honored As Phenomenal Woman

LOS ANGELES -- The YWCA Greater Los Angeles (YWCA GLA) will honor multiple grand slam tennis champion and entrepreneur Venus Williams at its upcoming Phenomenal Woman Awards Luncheon on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 from 11:30am – 2pm. The event will be held in downtown Los Angeles at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel at 500 S. Grand Avenue and is themed "Saluting Women who Change the Game".

The Phenomenal Woman Awards fundraiser draws Southern California's top women executives and leaders to salute their accomplishments before an audience of the Los Angeles business community. Proceeds from the event will benefit the YWCA GLA Job Corps program and Urban Campus. The YWCA GLA Job Corps program serves underprivileged youth ages 16 – 24 and offers housing, vocational training and support to ensure their self-sufficiency upon program completion.

Faye Washington, CEO, YWCA Greater Los Angeles said, "We are thrilled to salute Venus Williams with the Phenomenal Woman of the Year Award. Venus Williams exemplifies the YWCA's core mission of "eliminating racism, empowering women". She also is the quintessential example of our event theme, "Saluting Women who Change the Game". We are so proud of her accomplishments on and off the court and so grateful to her for embracing our Job Corps program and students. Our Job Corps students are electrified with excitement that she is coming to speak at their graduation, which is just one of the many things Venus has done to shine a light and draw support for our organization and our students."

Williams will participate in a two-day visit to her hometown Los Angeles to support the YWCA GLA Job Corps. In addition to accepting the Phenomenal Woman of the Year Award on Tuesday, July 13, 2010, she will continue the visit the next day as the guest speaker for the YWCA GLA Job Corps Graduation Ceremony on Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 10:30am at the Los Angeles Convention Center, West Hall, Room 511 & 515, 1210 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90015.

To learn more about YWCA GLA community programs, visit www.ywcagla.org or contact Tracy Clark at 213-251-1328 or tracy.clark@ywcagla.org