AROUND TOWN: Sharon Friedman honored as 'fierce advocate'

Sharon Friedman, creative producer/director of the live stage production the Story Project as well as an environmentalist, opera enthusiast and an advocate for inclusion, was the ninth recipient of the Divine Award, named for Citizens Project founder Amy Divine. Friedman was honored Feb. 5 at Stargazers Theatre and Events Center.

The Divine Award goes to a person "who has worked tirelessly to create a vibrant democracy in which equal rights are protected, individual freedoms are secure, differences are respected, and people fully participate in civic and community life."

Friends and those toasting her called Friedman “a caretaker of Colorado Springs,” “a fierce advocate of everything she believes in” and a person who always “stands up for what is right.” Friedman has been in publishing, helped open the local chapter of the ACLU, was a member of the first gay and lesbian funding panel for the Gill Foundation and was on the first advisory council for the Catamount Environmental Institute.

She was associate publisher for Springs Magazine, Downtown Today, Parents Plus and Bon Vivant for 30 years.