FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Darek Lambert
Director PR & Communications, Capital City Pride
CAPITAL CITY PRIDE ANNOUNCES 2022 PRIDE AWARD WINNERS
Des Moines, IA — (March 31, 2022) — Capital City Pride (CCP) celebrated four champions of the LGBTQ+ community at its annual Pride Gala and Award Ceremony, March 5, 2022 at the River Center in Des Moines. The 2022 Gala was sponsored by Kum & Go and made possible by partners Meta and Turner Construction.
“It’s so important to take time to recognize those in our community who are working to uplift and support LGBTQ individuals,” said Capital City Pride President, Jen Carruthers. “We could not be more excited to celebrate the accomplishments of this year’s award winners.”
For their work and dedication with the Des Moines LGBTQ+ community, three outstanding individuals and one business organization were recognized with a 2022 Capital City Pride Gala Award:
Person of the Year: Destinee Woodris (she/they) is the director of community engagement for Planned Parenthood of North Central States (PPNCS). She leads a small team of managers who serve as internal consultants and community educators. Destinee has 10+ years of leading teams, facilitating DEI workshops, and leading group dialogue centering team growth and development. Destinee resides in the Drake neighborhood with her wife, Leslie, and their mini Bernedoodle puppy, Sally.
Person of the Year: Chanelle Rosé (she/her/hers) found a love for community involvement beginning with 80/35 and then with Capital City Pride. After volunteering at PrideFest in 2019, Chanelle joined the Pride board as an advisor to marketing and communications. She experienced her first drag show and fell in love, and she’s been working to perfect her art since then. She has pushed to pave a path for acceptance in smaller communities, from speaking at gay/straight alliance panels in schools to educational “drag 101s.” Chanelle has made it her mission to eliminate the stigma around the mental health conversation using social media as a platform to create a safe space of acceptance and love.
Ally of the Year: Vivette Perry (she/her/hers) a Des Moines native, attended Hoover High School and Grand View University, where she double-majored in creative and performance arts and Spanish, minoring in communications. Vivette began her love for the arts as a child, when her mother, Veola, introduced her to the world of dance. That love of dance took Vivette to a club many moons ago called Dallys, where she saw her first drag performance and was instantly enthralled! Vivette continued to show her support by helping with shows at The Garden, teaching yoga for pride in 2019 and marching in a few Pride parades representing Django restaurant and Barack Obama. Vivette has performed, directed and judged many plays, musicals and pageants including: Miss Black Iowa, Pose DSM, Gateway Dance Theatre and Drag Brunch. She has also been involved with Girls Rock! Des Moines and Iowa Yoga Festival and serves as a co-producer for Drag King DSM.
Company of the Year: F&G is committed to helping Americans turn their aspirations into reality. A leading provider of insurance solutions serving retail annuity and life customers and institutional clients, F&G is headquartered in Des Moines. Established in 1959, F&G’s products are sold through a national network of financial professionals and have protected over 700,000 people across the United States.
“F&G is honored to receive the Company of the Year award from Capital City Pride for supporting the tremendous work CCP is doing for the LGBTQ community in Iowa,” said Renee Hamlen, SVP, Head of HR and Brand, F&G. “Being a good community partner is not just about investing dollars, it’s also about showing up. We are so proud of our F&G employees who embraced this opportunity to engage in all of the great work from events to ongoing educational events for the community. F&G is a company that respects and embraces everyone’s identity and represents a workplace where you can be your true authentic self. We celebrate and stand with our LGBTQ+ employees not just during pride week, but each and every day.”
About Capital City Pride
Since 1978, Capital City Pride has brought together the members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and queer community along with their friends, allies and supporters. We do this by producing events that inspire, educate, commemorate and celebrate the diverse community and culture with and for the greater Des Moines metro. For more information, visit capitalcitypride.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.