Staff
Our staff members are committed to working and acting in the best interest of New Orleans’ communities.
Ms. Deon Haywood: Executive Director
Deon Haywood is the Executive Director of Women With A Vision, Inc. a community- based grassroots organization created by black women dedicated to providing HIV/AIDS , Substance Use prevention services, Harm Reduction, Health Promotion and Advocacy to address risk behaviors and social vulnerabilities. Deon is a longtime activist in the city of New Orleans with a history of organizing low-income women of color around Reproductive Justice, and Women’s Rights .Deon is on the advisory board of BreakOUT, a project of the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana (JJPL) focused on the criminalization of LGBTQ youth. Also board member of the Louisiana AIDS Advocacy Network (LAAN). As an expert in community outreach and organizing marginalized groups. Deon was recognized in The Body.com 2010 HIV/AIDS Community Spotlight. In 2011 Forum for Equality Awarded her the Political Activism Acclaim Award. Currently, she is spearheading the No Justice Project, a campaign which addresses the criminalization of sex workers, who are largely poor women and transgender women of color, and the excessive and inequitable punitive consequences of conviction under Louisiana’s Crime Against Nature Solicitation Laws.
Shaquita Borden, MPH,CHES: Director, Program Development
Shaquita has been with WWAV for 6 years. She was born and raised in New Orleans and was prompted, after volunteering with WWAV, to change careers. She completed her MPH in 2010 after attending the LSU School of Public Health, and is working towards her PhD in Health Education and Health Promotion. She is passionate about working to improve the health of New Orleans’ citizens using a participatory approach to understand the structural drivers of women’s health disparities.
Cendra Williams: Office Manager
Cendra was born and raised in the 9th Ward neighborhood of New Orleans. She was a 7th grade English teacher before starting with WWAV in March of 2011. She was referred to WWAV by Co-Founder, Danita Muse, while seeking Social Work counseling. She completed her Bachelor of Education at Southeastern Louisiana University in 2008. She is stimulated by the work that WWAV does and will continue to work toward equal rights for all women of color.
Zina Mitchell: Community Organizer/Outreach Worker
Zina is a native of New Orleans, raised in Treme. For twenty-seven years, Zina’s life was dominated by addiction and survival sex. Connecting with WWAV was a moment that changed her life. Now two-years clean, she is living proof of the work that WWAV does and an inspiration for all of our clients. Zina loves working for WWAV, because she can bring hope to women throughout the city and teach them how to fight for their rights.
Laura Pegram, MSW: Harm Reduction Case Manager
A recent MSW graduate, Laura is currently finishing her MPH while working for WWAV as our Harm Reduction Case Manager. Laura has extensive professional experiences both in New Orleans and abroad. She currently focuses on social/reproductive justice issues, harm reduction policies, and community/individual psychosocial health and well-being.
Wendi Cooper, BS: Volunteer
Miss Wendi is a transgendered woman from the New Orleans region. She holds a Bachelor of Science from Southern University at New Orleans and is in the process of applying to law schools. Through her deep connections in the transgendered community, Miss Wendi found out about WWAV and has become a close member of our family. As a volunteer, her goals are to help troubled women and transgendered women to overcome their fears.
