WASHINGTON, DC, March 27, 2007. Andrea Howe, president and founder of BossaNova Consulting Group and creator of Living out Loud (LoL), a workshop series using improvisational comedy to heal survivors of sexual assault, addressed the Salute to Women Awards Banquet. An annual event hosted by the Alexandria , Va., Commission for Women, the Banquet was held the evening of March 26 at the Radisson Hotel.

Proceeds from the banquet benefited the Alexandria Office on Women's Sexual Assault Response and Awareness (SARA) Program, which depends upon funding from grants and private donations for support. SARA assisted Howe in launching LoL as a community-service project.

Herself an amateur improv comedian and rape survivor, Howe captivated the audience by describing her healing journey after sexual assault—marked by her determination to use her own experience to bring light to an otherwise dark subject.

"For a volunteer-driven organization, we've gained some amazing momentum in the short time LoL has been in existence," Howe relates. "That growth is largely thanks to SARA's enthusiastic support and guidance," she says.

Just as the organization helped her make the first steps toward founding LoL, SARA had initially assisted Howe in her recovery. She says, "It was an honor to give my firsthand account of the remarkable work that SARA does – work that begins in the community of Alexandria , but that truly knows no bounds."

"As she moved to the podium, the restless crowd at the Banquet hushed to hear every word this poised, vibrant woman said," reports Jen McLish, a social worker with SARA. "Howe has become a charismatic agent of change in the community through the creation of Living out Loud."

Contacts:
Living Out Loud
Andrea How
andrea@lolworkshops.com
www.lolworkshops.com

Alexandria Office on Women
Jen Harris
jennifer.harris@alexandriava.gov
alexandriava.gov/oow/

About BossaNova BossaNova Consulting Group, Inc. works with professional services firms that want to stand apart from their competition by being extraordinary in their client relationships. BossaNova's learning programs teach the art and science of building trust – with a minimum promise of four to five times the typical return on training investment.

Contact:
info@bossanovaconsulting.com
+1-202-465-3298
www.bossanovaconsulting.com