Yvette Raphael

Yvette Raphael is currently the Executive Director of Advocates for the Prevention of HIV in Africa. Serves on the Board of Trustees of MTV Base Staying Alive. Yvette Alta Raphael is a consummate leader in the fight against HIV. As a woman who has been living with the virus for over 19 years, she has experienced first-hand what HIV stigma, insufficient prevention education, and reduced access to healthcare can do. She utilized her natural leadership abilities to co-found the Tshwaranang Care Center for People Living with HIV & AIDS (PLWHA). Ms. Raphael has spoken around the globe including several International AIDS Conferences to advise researchers, advocates, and policy makers on how to best win the war against HIV and AIDS. Her passion has been to improve the health outcomes for young women and girls, but her trusted expertise has also been lent to developing policies at the work place and to create better, more efficient structures to utilize the available governmental resources to end AIDS. Furthermore, Ms. Raphael is a trusted globally renowned advocate on effective and efficient education to the community regarding new and developing research for medications that treat and/or prevent HIV. Yvette is featured in the 2018/2019 exhibition at Smithsonian Museum titled out breaks (those who survive, those left behind). She is also a member of the Global Community Advisory Group for the ECHO trial.

Teresia Otieno

Teresia is the Acting Director for ATHENA Network, she is passionate about promoting HIV prevention strategies that work for women and girls and works across continents to mentor young women and to harness the mobilizing power of women. Teresia is from Kenya, and has served in various Technical Working Groups including the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Kenya, the National Steering Committee of the Beyond Zero Campaign led by the Kenyan First Lady Margaret Kenyatta. Teresia has documented experiences of women living with HIV who have endured coerced sterilization in Kenya and spearheaded a campaign to end the human rights violation. She was a member of the Global Community Advisory Group on the ECHO Trial. Teresia served as the chairperson of the International Community of Women Living with HIV and later as the Project Coordinator for ICW North America.

Saidy Brown

Saidy Brown was born with HIV and learned about her HIV status at 14. She uses various social media platforms, including her YouTube channel, to educate people about HIV.

Brown took part in the 2017 South African AIDS Conference as a member of the youth plenary. Her “open letter to HIV” was used to open the conference. She works with various NGOs, such as the youth-led Y+ South Africa — a network for young people living with HIV. She is a part of the youth reference group for the Virology HIV & Adolescence workshop and also works on social media campaigns that aim to educate and enlighten people on life and living with HIV.

She’s also a She Decides 25x25 young leader. An APHA Groundforce, and an ambassador for Inside My Purse.

She was awarded the 2017 Red Ribbon Foundation youth activist award and was one of the Mail and Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans for 2018.

Brown aims to show people through her life and work that there is life after being diagnosed with HIV.

Nombeko Mpongo

South Africa AIDS activist and involved in the HIV magazine series Siyayinqoba Beat It! Co-host and Community Engagement, Desmond Tutu HIV Centre. Nombeko strongly believes that empowered communities are able to adhere to available preventative methods and able to promote HIV free generation. Ongoing self-empowerment is the key and Nombeko strives to reach out and ensure ongoing learning to be authentic when addressing HIV/AIDS/COVID information.

Lillian Mworeko

Lillian K. Mworeko is the Executive Director and founding member of the International Community of Women living with HIV Eastern Africa (ICWEA), a regional advocacy network run by and for women living with HIV.

She is a board member of IPM after having previously served on the independent data and safety monitoring board of IPM 032, an open-label extension study of the Dapivirine ring.

With over 20 years of experience in HIV/TB, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and human rights programming, Lillian is a gender, human, and women’s rights defender who is passionate about women’s priorities and aspirations. She has a long history of advocating for increased SRHR choices for women, including family planning and female-controlled HIV prevention tools.

Together with UN Women, Lillian co-leads the household and community setting technical working group of the Global Partnership to Eliminate All Forms of HIV-Related Stigma and Discrimination. She is also a member of the WHO Global Validation Advisory Committee for eMTCT of HIV and syphilis, and previously served as a member of the community rights and gender advisory group for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the global community advisory board for the ECHO trial.

She is a founding member of Uganda Network of AIDS Services Organisations (UNASO), the National Forum of PLHIV Network in Uganda (NAFOPHANU) and Together Against AIDS Positive Association (TAAPA).

Lillian has received numerous honors, including the 2019 CHANGE Courageous Changemaker Award, the 2016 Uganda HIV & AIDS Leadership Award, the 2015 Justice Makers Award and the 2014 ICW Inaugural Sisterhood Award.

Margaret Happy

Margaret Happy is a Ugandan woman living with HIV and is a survivor of cervical cancer who underwent cryotherapy treatment. She holds a master's degree in Gender Studies, with demonstrated and successful development work in Africa and Asia. Currently, she is an Executive Director of Advocacy for Quality Health Uganda (AQH-Uganda).

Margaret is a member of the International AIDS Society (IAS); a member of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Women Living with HIV Advisory group; and a member of the WHO Guideline Development Group (GDG) in reviewing WHO guidelines on cervical cancer screening and treatment. Margaret is a member of COVID 19 Advocates Advisory Board. Under the Ministry of Health, Margaret is a member of the Differentiated Service Delivery for HIV Technical Working Group and a member of Community Technical Working Group.

Margaret is pleased to also be a member of Global Community Advisory Group for (PURPOSE 1) study.

Sarah Mkhabela

Sarah Mkhabela is 25 years old and currently studying International Communication, majoring in International Relations, Media Studies, Communication Sciences, and Public Relations. She started taking oral PrEP in 2019 and does not regret her decision. She is currently part of the ground force with Advocacy for Prevention of HIV and AIDS (APHA) in South Africa, and is a PAG member with CONRAD.

Bridget Jjuuko

Bridget Ndagaano Jjuuko is an HIV/SRHR advocate and trainer with bias towards adolescent and youth health. Bridget is the Founder and Executive Director of ACTS101 Uganda, an NGO targeting health and developmental programs for children, adolescents, and youth with over 7 years of experience empowering, engaging, and mobilizing communities for meaningful involvement and participation in HIV prevention programs/research and promotion of SRHR and psychosocial and behavioral support for children and youth. She believes research and programming for health should start and end with communities. Investing in effective community engagement strategies to create and sustain platforms for lasting gains is the key to achieve HIV/AIDS epidemic control and achieving an equitable access to SRHR programs. The globe being a youthful population, Bridget’s work focuses on empowering and creating spaces for priority groups of young people like AGYW to inform programs and research. As a 2018 AVAC fellow, Bridget instituted and now coordinates the National AGYW advocacy forum; a platform designed to consolidate AGYW voices and amplify advocacy efforts towards effective engagement in SRHR/HIV programs and research. Bridget represents young people and serves at different levels; she chairs the civil society HIV prevention research coalition; she represents on the steering committee for the coalition on financing for health research and development and the coalition on HIV law; she is a member of the Ministry of Health adolescent girls and young women task force, the coalition on integration of HIV/SRHR/GBV in Uganda, and the RMNCAH youth coordination team, among others.

Jenna Rapues

Jenna Rapues, MPH, (she/her/siya) is a Filipinx trans woman who was born in the Philippines and grew up in San Francisco. Currently, Jenna is the Director of Gender Health SF, an innovative program of the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) that provides access, coordination, and peer navigation services for gender-affirming surgeries and procedures, related education, and preparation services to eligible publicly insured and uninsured transgender and nonbinary adult residents in San Francisco. Prior to her current role, Jenna was the Interim Director of UCSF’s Center of Excellence for Transgender Health (CoE), overseeing its national capacity building and technical assistance portfolios and priorities to increase comprehensive, effective access to affirming health care services for trans and nonbinary communities. Jenna came to serving trans and nonbinary individuals in public health by working in HIV prevention, research, and community planning with SFDPH's Population Health Section, Community Health Equity and Promotion Branch for fifteen years.

JoAnne Keatley

Innovative Response Globally for Trans Women and HIV (IRGT) Board Chair, JoAnne Keatley, was born in Mexico City and received a Master of Social Welfare degree from the University of California, at Berkeley. In addition to her role as Chair and helping oversee the growth of the IRGT, she was the founder and Director of the renowned Center of Excellence for Transgender Health (CoE). JoAnne served as Co-Principal Investigator of the UCSF capacity building and technical assistance program funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Co-Principal Investigator of the HRSA funded Special Projects of the National Significance (SPNS) Transgender Evaluation and Technical Assistance (TETAC) Project. The CoE has worked diligently to enhance transgender care services in California, the nation, and the world. In partnership with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), JoAnne co-authored the PAHO document “Blueprint for the Provision of Comprehensive Care to Transgender and Transsexual Persons and Their Communities in Latin America and the Caribbean” that has impacted the quality of transgender care throughout the region. JoAnne has directed numerous research and HIV prevention projects and has consulted on transgender health at the World Health Organization, the NIH, CDC, HRSA, SAMHSA, and at the White House. JoAnne has received numerous awards and recognition including, in 2001, being the first staff recipient of the UCSF Chancellor’s Award for LGBT Leadership, in 2009 the UCSF Martin Luther King Jr. Chancellor’s Award for advancing cultural diversity and social justice on campus, in 2010 the Kaiser National HIV/AIDS award for diversity and, in 2015 was recognized by the State of California for her work advancing the health of transgender Californians.

Jana Villayzan

Jana Villayzan Aguilar is a trans woman activist focused on human rights for trans women in Peru and Latin America and founder of Red Trans Peru. Villayzan has a master’s in public health focused on gender, sexuality, and reproductive health from the Peruvian university, Cayetano Heredia.

She has collaborated with different research projects working with trans women in Peru. She has participated in social and epidemiological research on HIV and human rights issues.

Villayzan has over 20 years of experience and is the founder of the trans movement in Peru and is the Executive Director of Red Nacional por los Derechos de las Personas Travesties, Trangeneno y Transexual in Peru (Red Trans Peru).

Martez Smith

Martez Smith is a Licensed Master Social Worker, and a doctoral candidate at the University of Rochester School of Nursing. His research interests include addressing racial, sexual, and gender minority health disparities through community-driven, asset-based interventions. Currently, Martez is a member of the University of Rochester School of Nursing Interdisciplinary Sexual Health and HIV Research (INSHHR) Group, where he collaborates with researchers on a variety of scientific studies. In addition to conducting research, Martez works alongside a nationwide cadre of activists, organizing for social justice with the Keeping Ballroom Community Alive Network (KBCAN), which he co-founded in 2015.

Shawn Demmons

Shawn Demmons is a queer African American trans man committed to social and racial justice. Shawn has 10+ years of experience providing community health education trainings, and capacity building and technical assistance that increase provider knowledge and awareness about trans people and the best practices to engage transgender communities in health care. Shawn has developed training curricula, webinars, other presentations, and provided TA for the staff and leadership of numerous health care organizations across the US. In addition, he coordinated the 2017 and 2019 National Transgender Health Summit and served as the project lead in the development of a Trans 101 eLearning course available on the UCSF Center for Transgender Health website. Currently, Shawn is the Director of the Bay Area, North & Central Coast region at the Pacific AIDS Education & Training Center and a trans health consultant for the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD). Shawn has an undergraduate degree in Black Studies and a Masters in Public Health from San Francisco State University.

Blossom Brown

Coach Blossom C. Brown is an Activist, Trans-Health Advocate, PrEP Navigator and Life Coach. She received her Bachelor of Science in Public Health Education from Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, Mississippi, and is the first Black trans woman from the University to do so. She has appeared in Season 1 of Caitlyn Jenner’s docuseries “I Am Cait” and The Ellen Show. She currently works as a PrEP Retention Navigator at the Los Angeles LGBT Center dedicated to being able to give our LGBTQ+ community access to PrEP and other Sexual Health needs.

Ms. Toi Washington-Reynolds

Ms. Toi Washington-Reynolds is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana and a Hurricane Katrina survivor. She considers herself to be a passionate community servant and gender rights and HIV prevention advocate with more than a decade of experience in the LGBTQ community organizing and advocating for transgender equality, equity, inclusion and reproductive justice, and HIV and STD education and prevention.

Toi has been able to promote significant positive change within transgender communities, organizations, foundations and service projects. She is a committed community advocate for the trans community and has been privileged to work with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Gilead Science’s LEN4PrEP Global Advisory Committee, Black Religious Roundtable on HIV, Philadelphia Trans Health Conference, Black Girlz Rulez, The I Elevate Conference, and her most recent work SNaPCo and Women on the Rise. The latter are both nonprofit organizations specializing in the plight of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women in efforts to help close the Atlanta City Detention Center.

Toi went on to create We Are More Coaching & Consulting, and the Trans Women of Color (TWOC) Healing Project. The mission of the TWOC Healing Project is to speak knowledge to power and to combat the erasure of trans lives, narratives, and most importantly, trans contributions to society.

Ms. Washington's personal and professional mantra:

A person can forget what you did or said, but they will never forget how you made them feel. If I can help somebody along the way, then my living is not in vain.

Luis Gutierrez-Mock

Luis Gutierrez-Mock, MPH, MA, is a qualitative researcher, subject matter expert, and trainer with the UCSF Pandemic Initiative for Equity and Action. Prior to COVID, Luis worked in transgender HIV prevention for 20 years through direct service, advocacy, research, and capacity building roles. Luis holds an MA in Sexuality Studies, a second MA in Ethnic Studies, and an MPH with an emphasis in community health education. He is currently a doctoral candidate in medical sociology at UCSF.

Charlie Peterson

Charlie Peterson (he/him; él) serves as Manager, Community Engagement & Clinical Research Education at Project WISH, an infectious disease clinical research site in the College and Department of Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Aside from establishing a network of community-based, healthcare, and educational organizations to better promote healthcare messaging, linkage to care, vaccination opportunities (COVID, flu, Mpox), and self-advocacy, Charlie strives to help provide care to lesser served communities in Chicago, especially Black/African American, Latinx/Hispanic, transgender and nonbinary populations. As a cisgender, foreign-born, gay Latino active in the community, Charlie has personal experience with fighting to get to functional zero, to help end stigma, and to work for the betterment of our community. Ask Charlie about his furbabies, native plant gardening, pollinator and wildlife habitat creations, his passion for animal rights and environmental advocacy, his hobbies (museums, symphonies, operas, and being a non-snooty foodie), and his love for athletics (long-distance cycling, running, and swimming).