Angelia McGowan

Helping her peers by raising health awareness is a very important responsibility to Angelia McGowan (MA ’98).

For more than six years McGowan has worked as a public relations professional, primarily helping state and nonprofit agencies to implement health-awareness campaigns in Colorado’s minority communities.

She is a longtime member of the Colorado Association of Black Journalists, and in August the group named her its 2004 Public Relations Professional of the Year.

“Coming from an African-American background and being a member of the African- American community, I’ve become aware of the many health issues that we face,” McGowan said. “It’s my job to help my community out.“

For the past couple of years, McGowan has worked with Burks Communication on Denver Water’s campaign to increase water conservation in Denver’s minority communities during the state’s drought. While she was with the agency, McGowan also directed media relations efforts for the Tuskegee Airmen Inc. National Convention. She helped to write the mayor’s Legacy Brochures, a series of brochures highlighting the achievements of Denver’s first African-American mayor, Wellington E. Webb.

McGowan has also served as publicist for the annual Starz Denver Pan African Film Festival, presented by the Pan African Arts Society (PAAS) since 2000. Her responsibilities include securing positive media placement for festival guests including such filmmakers and artists as Amiri Baraka, Oscar Brown Jr. and Stanley Nelson. Despite the high profile of the entertainment field, she doesn’t veer far from health awareness issues; the PAAS is an avid promoter of HIV and AIDS awareness.

“I’ve been blessed to be able to work on programs and campaigns that were ahead of the curve in placing value on the minority,” McGowan said.

“With the campaigns and programs that I’ve worked on, I believe that I’ve been able to place value on the African-American and also the Latino communities. Through my work, I’ve given them an outlet to voice their concerns. I’ve helped them to become more a part of the community at large,” she said.

McGowan is now working in the Denver office of Cordy & Company Inc., a public relations and marketing firm, on a seat belt campaign aimed at the African-African community on behalf of the Colorado Department of Transportation. She also is a volunteer mentor at the University of Colorado Athletic Mentor Program.

angeliadenise@yahoo.com