UNITY AWARDS

Open Nominations

Welcome Family,

With this project, we vision unifying our BLGBTQ Community by recognizing outstanding works done by people in the life, friends, and supporters.  The Unity Awards will highlight individuals, projects, and organizations in the area categories of Arts & Entertainment, Literature, and Social & Community.  Recognition in these areas have been done on a local level and some on a national level, but the Unity Awards has added to this with more individual and specific categories.  With approximately 60 or so individual categories, we will recognize two groups in these categories, Lifestyle and Mainstream.  Lifestyle covers the BLGBTQ Community.  Mainstream recognize those outside the Lifestyle, but are supported by or support the Lifestyle.  The purpose of the breakdown is to recognize our own and recognize the ones who support us.  Recognizing the Mainstream group affords us an opportunity to show them the level of support we provide and will hopefully garner us the leverage of their support by seeing our BLGBTQ demographic putting money and support to them.  The award titles will be referred to as "Outstanding" versus "Best" because everyone that supports our community is the "Best".  Using "Outstanding" merely recognize award winners for their work, without discrediting the works of others, by using an elite title.

The Unity Awards will be broken into two phases, Open Nominations and Voting.  The Open Nominations will allow the public to nominate anyone/anything in an individual category.  The only restriction during this phase is that you may only place nominations from the same computer, no more than twice or avoid your nomination ballot not being submitted.  The Open Nominations phase will end August 25, 2008.  The top four nominees from the Open Nominations will consist of the final nominees for each individual category.  The Nominees will be announced in Atlanta, Georgia on Labor Day Weekend (specific date and time to be announced).

The Voting phase of the Unity Awards will began after the Nominees have been announced.  Voting will began on September 8, 2008 and conclude on October 24, 2008.  Voting will be open only to JAIA Members and JAIA Member Organizations.  Membership Applications will be available on our JAIA Website beginning September 8.  Membership benefits will be outlined in the application process.

Finally, after the two phases have been completed, the time we will have waited on will be here, The Unity Awards!  The Unity Awards will be held on November 9, 2008, in Los Angeles, California.  This will be an extravaganza to match the likes of the Oscars, Grammy, and other highly anticipated award shows complete with entertainment, celebrities, and you!  Plans are being finalized and the location will be announced in Atlanta, during the Nominees Announcement.

We truly hope that you will work with us to recognize those that work diligently for our BLGBTQ Community and those that support us.  By recognizing them, we are recognizing ourselves and the positive that we are truly known for.  I thank you for your time and I thank you for being you "Because You Are Who You Are!"

I Am,

DaJuan M. Xavier, MBA

Chairman

Board of Directors

Just As I Am Foundation, Inc. (JAIA)