Institute Staff Travel the Nation to Represent on World AIDS Day

The Institute Participates in World AIDS Day

The Institute staff traveled the nation to represent on World AIDS Day 2009.

CEO and Founder Phill Wilson participated in local and national radio shows including a panel discussion on WNYC Radio with Dr. Monica Sweeney and a segment on the Bev Smith Show. Wilson took the opportunity to address the disproportionate affect of HIV/AIDS on the Black populace and to also address the need for Blacks to be included in the National AIDS Strategy. Wilson also attend former President Bill Clinton’s World AIDS Day event at Columbia University in New York.

Institute Training and Capacity Manager Raniyah Abdus-Samad attended the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) Conference in Washington D.C. Abdus-Samad coordinated HIV testing for conference participants; conducted a training for NCNW Collegiate Sections on how to create HIV/AIDS programming on their campuses; and participated in one-on-one planning with various sections (chapters) on how to create HIV/AIDS programming within their chapter.

Further down south the Institute’s Director of Programs Charlie Baran attended a World AIDS event at Philander Smith College (and HBCU) with the Arkansas Minority Health Commission ED Idonia Trotter, the HIV/AIDS Section Director Kevin Dedner of the state health department, and other local community agencies. Jefferson Comprehensive Care System, Inc. provided HIV testing for nearly 200 students attending the event.

On the home front, Institute Mobilization Manager Chris Bland attended a Los Angeles hearing held by the Assembly Health Committee, chaired by Assembly member Dave Jones, on AIDS funding for California. Bland provided testimony concerning what the Institute’s programs do and how they are affected by recent budget problems.