Alyssa Cardi Wins Roadmap Challenge Raffle

A self-described Disney fanatic and cook won The Black AIDS Institute's Roadmap Challenge raffle—and an Ultratab by Jazz tablet. Alyssa Cardi, of Providence, R.I., discovered that, true to the Disney slogan, dreams can, in fact, come true.

"I am always running here and there," says Cardi. "This tablet is perfect to enable me to keep working from the road without having to lug my old, bulky laptop."

Cardi works as the project coordinator for a Project START grant funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. She first connected with the Institute at the 2012 United States Conference on AIDS (USCA), the largest AIDS-related gathering in the U.S., which she also attended in 2013.

The Institute promoted the Roadmap Challenge at the USCA, which draws thousands of participants each year from all sectors of the HIV/AIDS epidemic—case managers and physicians, public health workers and advocates, and policymakers and PLWHAs. Participants had to complete at least six activities—preconference, roundtables, seminars, workshops, booth visits and survey completions—to be entered into a raffle for a tablet.

"I thought it was fun and made choosing and attending the sessions interesting and interactive," says Cardi.

The Black AIDS Institute strengthens leadership by connecting peers, raising HIV science and treatment literacy, and advocating for policy change and research priorities through various activities, including the Roadmap Challenge.

Gerald Garth is a Los Angeles-based writer, actor and accountant who works for The Black AIDS Institute.