Maria Denise Dowd
The Founder and Executive Producer
African American Women on Tour

     In 1991, the first African American women's conference was born, attracting more than 600 women. Two years later, Maria created African American Women on Tour, which has traveled to over a dozen cities since 1991. In 2001, African American Women on Tour produced its first Sisterfriend Soul Journeys Caribbean Retreat in St. Kitts and Nevis, West Indies. AAWOT’s first European retreat took place last summer in Paris, France.

    "African American Women on Tour, now celebrating its 13th anniversary, is an incredibly healing experience for thousands of Black women,” Maria says. “Sisters from around the world come ‘home’ every year, committed to making positive changes in their relationships, health, professions and lifestyles." Over the past decade, Maria has garnered the sponsorship of multinational corporations and has attracted a loyal following of more than 20,000 women.

     Maria self-published Sisterfriend Soul Journeys: The Spirit and Expressions of African American Women on Tour, a profoundly powerful collection of inspirational stories, poems and essays about women's journeys to healing, personal growth and spiritual insight. It's written by women across the African diaspora, and includes beautifully illustrated pages for journal entries. Under the auspices of her new company, SoulJourneys, Inc., she’ll begin editing the second edition of Sisterfriend Soul Journeys Winter of 2003.

She’s near complete with her first novel, Angels Revealed, a heartrending collection of novellas about four women – Simone, Jena, Coco and Giselle – who work at the newly renovated Odyssey, an exotic dance club located in San Diego, California. Angels Revealed weaves the stories of their childhoods into those of their young adult lives, as each character’s “book” sheds light on the bittersweet, sexy, eerie, funny and often sad realities of a girl’s rites of passage. As each struggles to find her rightful place in the sun, Angels Revealed exposes the raw nerves and simple truths about human nature, social ills and resolution of the spirit.

Maria wrote the foreword of Anita Bunkley’s book, Stepping Out with Attitude (Harper Perennial) and was a featured writer on NiaOnline. She was also featured in Cheryl Broussard’s Sister CEO: The Black Woman’s Guide to Starting Your Own Business. She has also appeared in Essence (May 1997; March 2001), Black Enterprise and Heart & Soul magazines.

When not running AAWOT business (if there is such a thing) Maria devotes time to her thriving Warm Spirit business and her two daughters Lauren, 17; and Janelle, 21. She enjoys yoga and weight training and teaches Latin aerobics at a local fitness club chain. Maria initally found mixed media collage-making relaxing and therapeutic, and now has original works displayed in the homes of several executives, including that of feminist writer bell hooks. Maria also enjoys reading, traveling and reggae dancing.

Source:  http://www.aawot.com/maria.html