Tawana Blassingame is a true 49er fan at heart. She is known by her peers as a loving and devoted mother and daughter who is kind, generous, caring, and compassionate. Without hesitation she continuously devotes her time, finances, experience, and platform to help everyone she encounters. Tawana is the true definition of a philanthropist. This is evident in attitude towards life and her motto

“I strive to make the dash between my birth date and my death date mean something”.

She eagerly and excitedly began her career journey in healthcare in 1997. It was only fitting that she chose a career path that involved helping and caring for people. She started as a temp in the medical records department at Mount Sinai Hospital and then quickly moved up to front desk registration before becoming a lead worker. Tawana dedicated her time and efforts and soon after became the executive assistant to the Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine. Her ability to influence and motivate people in a positive manner resulted in her promotion to office manager. In 2011 Tawana joined Northwell Health (at the time it was North Shore LIJ) supporting the Department of Medicine, Chair. She diligently did that for ten years before joining the human resources department as a Sr. Executive Assistant supporting the Chief People Officer.

When Tawana isn’t outside helping the world, she is quietly spending quality time reading and writing. She spent her younger years reading autobiographies, romance, and suspense novels. Growing up, it was always her dream to be a published author. In 2011 she was driven and determined to achieve this goal, resulting in her releasing her very first novel entitled Blood-Stained Conscience.

It didn’t stop there, in fact that was only the beginning. Being the go-getter that she is, she felt she wanted more. A few months after the release of the book, she started Queen Size Magazine in 2011. Queen Size Magazine is an award winning monthly national full-figured fashion and lifestyle publication for both men and women. Under her parent company Cohesive Minds Inc, Queen Size Magazine has enjoyed many years of continued success. In 2018 the magazine was awarded with the 2018 Magazine of the Year Award from Full Figured Fashion Week. The magazine taught her many aspects of the fashion industry. Understanding the importance of paying it forward, her experiences has afforded her the opportunity to help upcoming models and entrepreneurs in their personal journeys as well.

While diligently handling her career in healthcare and simultaneously operating her very own magazine company, Tawana embarked on a new journey in 2019. For years she was toying with the concept of producing an award ceremony that recognizes, highlights, and promotes the hard work of the individuals within the Plus Size community. This led to her founding and producing her very first award ceremony called the Full-Figured Industry Awards (also known as the FFIAs). The FFIAs is a prestigious ceremony of awards and of distinguished recognition honoring the craftsmanship and commitment to excellence across various platforms spanning the full-figured industry. From models, makeup artists and designers, to bloggers, photographers, entertainers, influencers, and productions; Tawana and the FFIAs team continues to work relentlessly to ensure that the industry is celebrated for their work and dedication to the full-figured fashion industry.

To date Tawana Blassingame have received many awards throughout her entrepreneurial journey. On March 5th, she received the biggest ones to date - the President Biden Lifetime Achievement award for her hard work and commitment to her community and the Danny Glover Power of the Dream award for humanitarian services.

Tawana born and raised in Brooklyn, but now resides in Queens, NY with her family.