Announcing the #BlogHer17 Voices of the Year Honorees

One of our favorite days of the year is here and we couldn’t be more excited! We are thrilled to unveil the #BlogHer17 Voices of the Year honorees. For ten years, Voices of the Year (or #VOTY as we lovingly refer to it) has been the heart and soul of the #BlogHer conference. The brilliant work created by you – our community – overwhelms us with its beauty, laughter, and impact on the world outside the internet. You shared your stories, pictures, and videos about life in this rapidly changing world we live in, and we heard you. Loud and clear.

Every one of the pieces submitted was reviewed by at least two judges and up to six. Judges were recruited from former Voices of the Year recipients and SheKnows Media staff. We thank all our judges for their hard work!

We are so excited to honor these outstanding creators who have pushed us to think more, feel more, share more, laugh more, and do more at the #BlogHer17 Community Keynote on Friday, June 23rd, at 4:30 p.m. ET with Janet Mock as our fabulous emcee.

Get ready to click your heart out, and join us in congratulating this year’s Voices of the Year!

Video

Deva Dalporto for Stressed Out Mom Parody
Oneika Raymond for Dear Dutch People: Zwarte Piet Is RACIST
Xenia Zayas for Moro de Guandules Dominicano, Chef Zee Cooks

In addition, the following honorees will present their honored work from the stage as part of the #BlogHer17 Voices of the Year community keynote:

Congratulations to all the honorees, whose videos will be on display throughout the Voices of the Year reception.

Eye Candy

Erin Bender for her photo
Samantha Broxton for her photo journal
Kimberly Dickerson for her photo
Xenia Galaviz for her photo
Nanette Gomez for her photo
Jessica Hall for her photo
Alisha Nesbitt for her photo
Khadijat Oseni for her Instagram feed
Susan Pazera for her Instagram feed
Lizz Porter for her photo
Rosalynda Thorn for her photo

Congratulations to our Eye Candy category honorees! All Eye Candy will be on display during the #BlogHer17 VOTY Community Keynote and throughout the Voices of the Year reception.

Food Photography

Andrew Bernard for his photo
Nicole Dawson for her photo
Sharon Lacendro for her photo
Priya Lakshminarayan for her photo
Thien-Kim Lam for her photo
Vanessa Mota for her photo
Lauren Pariseau for her photo
Tash Shan for her photo

Congratulations to our Food Photography category honorees! All Food Photography will be on display during the #BlogHer17 VOTY Community Keynote and throughout the Voices of the Year reception.

Written Work (Long)

Sara Baker for We Are All Shitty Parents
Christina Berchini for We Don’t Have a ‘Diversity’ Problem in Education
Amy Chesler for Expressing Motherhood
Amy Freeman for A Lesson In Gender Pronouns For My Fellow Former English Majors
Arnebya Herndon for How Many Minutes Will It Take
Kristen Hewitt for The Power Of Yes
Kelly Hoover Greenway for Finding Joy in the Face of Cancer
Mike Julianelle for We Must Raise Our Boys to Defy Rape Culture
Lisa Lucca for Two Roofs, One Home
Kelly Macias for A Letter to My Young Self on the Eve of Hillary Clinton’s Nomination For President
Kathryn Mayer for When Your College Baby Leaves Her Lovey Behind
Jenn O’Connor for My Foster Child Is Gone, Am I Still A Mother?
Liz Petrone for Raising the Revolution
Samara Rose for Greetings From The Loony Bin
Nancy Ruffin for Revolutionary Women: Breaking The Ties That Bind Us
Lisa Sadikman for Reclaiming All My Pieces, Motherhood Included
Alisa Schindler for The Difference Between a Father and a Dad
Tina Shoulders for A Letter to the Fathers of My Children
Theresa Sutton for The Day My Daughter Rejected My Blackness
Linda Wolff for Colonoscopies Are Not For Sissies
Kimberly Zapata for Thank You, Carrie Fisher, For Giving a Voice to All Of Us Battling Mental Illness

All long written work will be on display throughout the #BlogHer17 Voices of the Year reception. Congratulations to all our long written work honorees.

Impact

Rowan Grigsby for How to Survive in Intersectional Feminist Spaces 101
Taya Dunn Johnson for Please Read This Before Your Post Another RIP On Social Media

In addition, the following honorees will present their honored work from the stage as part of the #BlogHer17 Voices of the Year community keynote:

Congratulations to our Impact category honorees! All honorees’ submissions will be on display during the Voices of the Year reception.

Written Work (Short)

Elaine Alguire for A Random Saturday
Denise Nichole Andrews for Four Letter Words
Lindsey Andrews for Blessings From Infertility
Danielle Dayney for Just Below The Surface: My Relationship With Alcohol
Lori Duron for He Just Needs to Find His People, Then He’ll Be Safe
Meredith Ethington for Why I Take The Pill
Paula Fitzgibbons for Talking Alton and Philando With My Newly Driving Black Teen
Lea Grover for This is How I’ll Love You
Danielle James for Bompa
Diane Lang for Take My Hand
Lana Nieves for Strong
Cameron Reeves Poynter for This is the Me They Love
Sarah Rudell Beach for Loving and Kind New Year Wishes
Ellen Seidman for 20 Wishes for My Child With Special Needs
Danielle Slaughter for For Colored Girls Who Are Never Enough
Anusha Srinivasan for grief
Alice Webb for The Beautiful Mess Our Children Leave Behind
Melissa Camara Wilkins for When Listening is a Lament
Aliza Worthington for The Hitler Paradox

In addition, the following honorees will present their honored work from the stage as part of the #BlogHer17 Voices of the Year community keynote:

Congratulations to all of our short written work honorees! All honorees’ written work will be on display during the Voices of the Year reception.

Jennifer Evers is the Sr. Logistics Manager for Events and the Chairwoman of the Voices of the Year Committee. You can find her on most social platforms at @AFewGoodJens