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Barbara Poma

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Barbara Poma

Founder, onePULSE Foundation, Inc.
Barbara Poma

Barbara Poma, owner of Pulse nightclub and founder of onePULSE Foundation. Ms. Poma was an educator in the Orange County Public School system for three years. She married entrepreneur Rosario Poma and they built and operated several businesses, most significantly Pulse nightclub which was established in 2004. Pulse was embraced by the global LGBTQ+ community for the club's culture of love and provided a space where the community and their families could be themselves. On Sunday, June 12, 2016, Pulse became the scene of one of the nation's worst mass shootings in modern American history. Ms. Poma, like the rest of the world, was rocked into an unimaginable reality that carried immeasurable hardship. Since the loss of her business, she shifted her focus to serve as Founder of onePULSE Foundation, the nonprofit established to honor and preserve the legacy of the 49 killed and all affected by the tragedy. She has become a respected human and civil rights advocate. She was awarded the 2020 Publisher’s Award from the Orlando Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business Awards, 2019 Business Leader of the Year Award - MBA Pride Chamber of Commerce, 2019 Summit Award - Women’s Resource Center, and 2019 Public & Community Service Award - The Atlantic Institute. She was also named one of NBC Universal's 2018 Change Makers, received the 2018 Point Foundation Leadership award, recognized as Ally Ambassador of the year for the 2018 LGBT -Allies Diversity Summit and 2017 LGBT Champion of Equality - Harvey Milk Diversity Awards.