African Women’s Cancer Awareness Association (AWCAA)

The Brief

The African Women’s Cancer Awareness Association (AWCAA) created Ladies First as a signature fundraiser supporting cancer screenings, health education, patient navigation, and survivorship initiatives for African immigrant women and their families.

In 2019, Ladies First was an in-person experience in Atlanta designed to bring survivors, healthcare professionals, community members, and supporters together around a shared mission.

Then 2020 changed the way people could gather.

AWCAA needed to rethink the experience without losing the community connection that made Ladies First meaningful. At the same time, the organization still needed the event to generate at least $25,000 in fundraising revenue.

The objective was to create an experience that could adapt to a new format while continuing to engage the community, provide value to sponsors, and support AWCAA’s mission.

The Gap

The challenge wasn’t simply moving an event online.

Ladies First was built around people coming together. Survivors, supporters, healthcare professionals, media, and community members needed opportunities to connect with one another and with AWCAA’s mission.

A fully virtual experience risked losing that sense of connection.

At the same time, sponsors needed meaningful opportunities to participate, and AWCAA needed the fundraiser to continue generating financial support for its programs.

The question became: How do you make a hybrid experience feel intentional rather than like an in-person event with a livestream attached?

The Strategy

BrandFelt worked with AWCAA to rethink Ladies First around community connection, fundraising, and sponsor value.

Rather than treating the virtual component as a replacement for the in-person event, we designed the experience around both audiences.

Community-Centered Experience

The event strategy prioritized the people at the heart of AWCAA’s work.

The experience was designed to create opportunities for survivors, healthcare professionals, supporters, and community members to participate whether they were physically in Atlanta or joining virtually.

Sponsorship Activation

We developed sponsorship opportunities that gave partners more ways to participate than simply placing a logo on event materials.

Media partnerships and branded experiences helped extend the reach of the event while giving sponsors tangible visibility within the experience.

Hybrid Event Design

The event was structured to connect the physical and virtual audiences through livestreaming and virtual participation.

The goal was to make both audiences feel like participants in the same experience rather than creating two disconnected events.

The Activation

Ladies First evolved from a fully in-person Atlanta fundraiser into AWCAA’s first hybrid event.

The activation brought together community members and supporters both in person and online while continuing to center the organization’s mission.

BrandFelt supported the event across strategy, sponsorship, hybrid experience design, and onsite management.

Our work included:

  • Developing the event strategy and experience
  • Creating sponsorship opportunities and activations
  • Supporting media partnerships
  • Designing the hybrid event format
  • Coordinating livestream and virtual participation
  • Managing the onsite experience in Atlanta
  • Supporting branded sponsor experiences
  • Creating opportunities for community and media engagement

The result was an event that adapted to a dramatically different environment without abandoning the community-centered experience that made Ladies First important.

Event Details

Client: African Women’s Cancer Awareness Association (AWCAA)

Experience: Ladies First Signature Fundraiser

Audience: Cancer survivors, healthcare professionals, community members, supporters, and media

BrandFelt Role:

  • Experience Strategy
  • Sponsorship Strategy & Activation
  • Hybrid Event Design
  • Event Management

Format: In-Person + Virtual

The Impact

$25,000+ Raised

Ladies First surpassed its $25,000 fundraising goal, helping support AWCAA’s cancer education, screening, patient navigation, and survivorship initiatives.

Expanded Community Access

The hybrid format allowed AWCAA to bring together survivors, healthcare professionals, media, and community members both in person and virtually.

Meaningful Sponsor Visibility

Branded experiences and media partnerships created additional opportunities for sponsors to participate in and gain visibility through the event.

A New Model for Engagement

Most importantly, AWCAA demonstrated that a community-centered fundraising experience could evolve with its audience and circumstances without losing the mission at its center.

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