News and Notes

CDC at the Creating Change Conference

This year, the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention (DHAP) had a strong presence at the National LGBTQ Task Force’s 2017 Creating Change Conference, held January 18–22, in Philadelphia, PA. Creating Change is a leadership and skills-building conference for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) people and their allies.

The Creating Change Conference hosted 22 Day-Long Institutes; two dozen trainings in the Leadership Academy; a special programming segment called Practice Spirit, Do Justice for faith leaders and organizers; approximately 250 workshops and caucus sessions; four keynote plenary sessions; worshipful gatherings; film screenings; meetings; receptions and social events, and a multitude of opportunities for attendees to meet and learn from each other.

DHAP’s presence was apparent throughout the conference in both creating a dialogue and disseminating information.

The Act Against AIDS initiative launched the refresh of the Start Talking. Stop HIV. (STSH) campaign at Creating Change. The campaign refresh provides new campaign assets targeted to our Hispanic/Latino audience of gay and bisexual men to market HIV prevention options encouraging discussions between partners and friends. The conference’s closing session featured Alex Newell, who performed Collect My Love, the song featured in the Start Talking. Stop HIV. music video.

The presence of partners extended the reach of DHAP’s messages and materials. Partnering and Communicating Together to Act Against AIDS (PACT) hosted three day-long institutes:

• AIDS United: HIV/AIDS and Our Emotional Health: An Interactive Seminar for People of All Statuses
• National Black Justice Coalition: What’s Next? A Post-Obama Era for Black LGBTQ/SGL People
• League of United Latin American Citizens: Unión Equals Fuerza: Latinx Institute

The National Partnership Team’s Francisco Ruiz moderated a conference panel session with fellow PACT members, Enhancing HIV Prevention Communication and Mobilization through Strategic Partnerships. The panel discussed the Act Against AIDS campaigns and PACT initiative as well as tips and best practices for leveraging strategic partnerships from our PACT members.

Through our partnerships, Act Against AIDS was featured throughout Creating Change. Highlights included:

• AIDS United’s full page ad featuring the STSH campaign and other PACT members
• National LGBTQ Task Force’s full page ad featuring Doing It
• A GIF booth featuring the STSH campaign along with our Act Against AIDS exhibit booth
• The Philly Black Gay Pride hosting the People of Color Lounge and activating our Act Against AIDS Community Art Wall