Byllye Avery

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Byllye Avery

Born	1937 Deland, Florida
Nationality	United States
Alma mater	University of Florida Talledega College
Known for	Created the National Black Women's Health Project
Notable awards	- MacArthur Foundation's Fellowship for Social Contribution - Gustav O. Lienhard Award

Byllye Yvonne Avery (b. 1937) is a health care activist in the United States of America. She has worked to improve the welfare of African-American women by creating the National Black Women's Health Project in 1981. She has received the MacArthur Foundation's Fellowship for Social Contribution and the Gustav O. Lienhard Award for the Advancement of Health Care from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science, among other awards.

Avery was born in DeLand, Florida. She studied psychology at Talledega College, and earned an MA degree from the University of Florida in 1969. In 1995 Avery received a L.H.D. from Bates College.

Avery produced the documentary film On Becoming a Woman: Mothers and Daughters Talking to Each Other (1987). It features African-American women and their daughters talking about menstruation and related topics, such as sex and love.[1] She has said that, when her own daughter menstruated for the first time, Avery threw a party for her.[2]