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PORTLAND, Maine

UNE Add Verb Productions Director Cathy Plourde honored with Hardy Girls Healthy Women's annual activist award

Cathy Plourde, executive director of the University of New England Westbrook College of Health Professions' Add Verb Productions, will be awarded with the Hardy Girls Healthy Women's annual Co-Creator Award as part of Girls Rock Weekend this year.

The Co-Creator Award is given annually to a Maine woman whose work is advancing the Hardy Girls' vision that all girls and women experience equality, independence, and safety in their everyday lives.

Plourde is the founder of Add Verb, which promotes health and wellness education through theater. Add Verb was founded in 2004, and in 2011 the program was added to University of New England's InterProfessional Education Collaborative.  Add Verb programs have reached more than 150,000 people in 35 states and internationally.

Hardy Girls co-creator and professor at Colby College, Lyn Mikel Brown, Ed.D., said the co-creators chose Cathy for her passionate commitment to youth activism and social justice. "Cathy Plourde is a singular talent, with a keen sense of how to develop safe spaces for youth and open people's hearts and minds. As a writer, director, and producer, she has devoted her life to creating more inclusive communities and scaffolding youth activism. Lynn, Karen, and I can't think of anyone more deserving of our Co-Creator Award."

In addition, Girls Rock Weekend, scheduled for March 30th-April 1st, 2012, will honor five Maine girls for their advocacy work to promote equality in sports, health, business, and communities. More information on Girls Rock Weekend can be found on Hardy Girls' website: www.hghw.org

Hardy Girls Healthy Women is a nonprofit organization located in Waterville, Maine dedicated to the health and well-being of girls and women. Hardy Girls Healthy Women is striving to create a world where women experience equality, independence, and safety in their everyday lives.

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.