19th Annual Women as the Face of AIDS Summit
Monday, May 6, 2024
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!! 

​The 2024 Summit’s theme is “Motivated & Mobilized: Moving Forward in a New Era of HIV.”

Monday, May 6, 2024
​11am - 6pm
Hybrid (In-person & Virtual) Summit 
In-person location - Bethel Gospel Assembly, 2-26 East 120th Street (between 5th and Madison Avenues).

Opening Remarks 
Ingrid Floyd, Executive Director, Iris House
11:00-11:15am

Morning Plenary Session
Where are we Now? The State of the HIV Epidemic
Marlene Taylor, PA and Staci Bush, PA
11:15am - 12:30pm

 Marlene Taylor PA

Ms. Taylor is a Primary Care Medical Provider with over 35 of experience working in the field of HIV, Hepatitis emphasizing the importance of primary care. She is currently in practice at Ryan Adair and Frederick Douglas Clinics as the PA supervisor of the HIV Department as well as a general medical provider. Previously she was the Director of HIV at Heritage Health Center and has served as Assistant Director of HIV and Addiction HIV as well as a Family Medicine Provider at Ryan Chelsea Clinton Clinic.  Ms. Taylor has practiced in several institutions in the NYC area such as Beth Israel Medical Center, Mt Sinai Hospital, and Lenox Hill Hospital.

Read complete biography.

Staci Bush, PA

Ms. Bush is a Senior Director of U.S. Medical Affairs at Gilead Sciences. Staci is a patient focused advocate who is known for her work in HIV treatment, prevention, and public health strategies. She has been pivotal in launching all 3 HIV Pre-Exposure Prevention (PrEP) products on the market in her leadership roles for both ViiV Healthcare and Gilead Sciences, where she held multiple US and ex-US roles over 20 years. As a relationship-savvy leader, she has built an array of alliances between medical professionals and researchers, domestic and international governments, advocates, and allies, and the CDC and pharmaceutical companies. 

Read complete biography. 

Afternoon Plenary Session 
"Yes You Can: Mobilization for a New Era of HIV"
Linda Scruggs, DLH, MHS, LPC
12:30pm – 1:45pm

​​Linda H. Scruggs, DLH, MHS, LPC
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The educator, activist, and leader in the HIV community for over 33 years. Her start in HIV was as a women’s health advocate shortly after her HIV diagnosis in 1990 at Johns Hopkins. Since that time, she has denounced stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS. 

Simply stated, Linda has committed a portion of her life to ensuring the health and rights of persons living with and vulnerable to HIV are high priorities to policymakers, systems of care, research communities, and the communities in which these individuals live and play.

Read complete biography. 

Recognizing our Honorees - Women in the Fight Against HIV
Davina Conner & Tracie M. Gardner
1:45pm - 2:00pm

​Davina "Dee" Conner
Davina embarked on her mission to educate others about HIV back in 2015 through an online podcast radio (Pozitively Dee Discussion). Her show provided a platform for individuals living with HIV to openly share their stories, intending to break down the stigma associated with the virus. Since then, Davina has risen to become a prominent international speaker, gracing stages across the globe. Davina is not only an accomplished author, blogger, and film director, but she has also led numerous trainings and workshops on HIV prevention, with a special focus on U=U.   Read complete biography. 

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Tracie M. Gardner
Tracie M. Gardner, Senior Vice President of Policy Advocacy at the Legal Action Center, has worked for more than three decades in the public health, public policy, and not-for-profit fields. With a focus on substance use and the impact of the War on Drugs and incarceration on Black communities in the United States, Ms. Gardner is a nationally recognized expert on health and communities of color. As a highly requested speaker on these issues, she is often quoted in the media and contributes to various research and journal articles on institutional racism’s impact on the health and criminal legal systems.
​Read complete biography.

​Lunch
 2:00pm – 2:50pm

Breakout 1 (3:00pm - 3:50pm; presentation (40mins), Q&A (10 mins)

• Empowering the Next Wave: Cultivating Leadership in the New Era of HIV/AIDS Black AIDS Institute - This workshop aims to explore the changing landscape of leadership in the HIV/AIDS movement, identify strategies for grooming and developing emerging leaders, and harness the power of social media to engage and mobilize the next generation.

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• Functional Health, Wellbeing, and Service Needs among Older Women with HIV in New York Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health - This presentation will describe physical and mental health functioning, comorbidities, service needs and utilization, and composite indicators of successful aging among WWH ages 50+ in New York City and the Tri-County region (Westchester, Putnam, and Rockland counties).

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• Impact of Substance Use and Trauma Amongst Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence Living with HIV - National Network to End Domestic Violence - 1. Describe how intimate partner violence (IPV) intersects with HIV; 2. Identify the ways that trauma and adverse mental health outcomes are associated with experiencing both IPV and living with
  HIV; 3. Recognize how substance use may be used as both a coping mechanism and a tool of power and control against survivors of (IPV) living with HIV; 4. Implement trauma-informed practices into programs that are harm-reduction focused for survivors of IPV living with HIV.

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• Together, We Rise! Supporting the Next Generation of Leaders to Engage in Status Neutral Approaches for Cisgender Women - Status Neutral Workgroup Chair, NYC HIV Planning Group - In this workshop, participants will learn about the impact of HIV and AIDS on cisgender women; developments in biomedical interventions; how to approach a comprehensive sexual history conversation; and related tools to decrease stigma and increase communal awareness about HIV.

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• Breaking cultural barriers in the sexual live of Latine Women Living and Aging with HIV- Voces Latinas (Presentation in Spanish) - This workshop seeks to inform participants of the most common barriers Latine women 50 and older face in their sexual lives while living and aging with HIV.

Breakout 2 (4:00pm - 4:50pm; presentation (40mins), Q&A (10 mins)

• Breaking Barriers: Redefining Hematologic Oncology Patients with HIV - A Journey from Stigma to Resilience - APSEA - American Preventive Screening & Education Association - This workshop endeavors to redefine the narrative around hematologic oncology patients living with HIV by delving into the root causes of stigma, unveiling its pervasive impact, and proposing transformative strategies for building resilience.

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• There is no age limit on enjoying sex and pleasure when living and thriving with HIV!  Aspirations - The objective is to address Stigma and the misconceptions of people living and thriving within HIV as we age.

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• Missing Pieces - An Exploration of Peer Support among Black Women and Leadership​Development in the HIV/AIDS Movement - Momtonomy, Conversations with Kim, I Am U, and Lady Burgandy - The purpose of this workshop is to highlight the power of peer-support, particularly among Black women in the HIV movement across generations in leadership development, advocacy, and achieving positive health outcomes for themselves and their communities.

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• Policy Advocacy Training: Comprehensive Sexuality Education for Young People - New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Bureau of Hepatitis, HIV, and STIs - This session is designed to increase participants’ understanding of why comprehensive sexuality education is important for young people and to provide them with the skills necessary to effectively advocate for its implementation.

 

• Internal Family Systems (IFS):  a Compassionate Approach to combat shame in HIV and build spiritual resilience.  Venezuelan Alliance for Community Support, Inc. - The goal of the workshop is for participants to gain understanding of the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model provides the language and resource to help heal from the parts that hold shame about HIV diagnosis. Participants will learn the neurobiology of shame and how it impacts the body. 

Networking Exhibit Hall, including two poster presentations.
5pm - 6pm

HIV STOPS WITH ME: A New Era of HIV Advocates Pushing forward and Staying Alive - AHF and HIV STOPS WITH ME - The aim is to educate participants about the HIV STOPS WITH ME Campaign and inspire action towards reducing HIV stigma, increasing testing rates, and improving access to care. 

Dear Rosa – legacy and the power of storytelling - Ready, Aim, Innovate, a program of Hager Health, LLC - The purpose of our presentation is to explore the use of oral histories and stories as a means of helping others. In hearing and delving into the experiences of others, we feel better connected, understood, and less alone.

                       

​Title Partner

Lunch Sponsor

Track Sessions Sponsor

Community Supporters

Community Allies

​2024 SUMMIT PLANNING COMMITTEE

Nadine Alexander    
NYCDOHMH   

Brenda "Bre" Azanedo
Black Lives Matter - Patterson  
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Ofelia Barrios
Iris House

Nichole Benjamin
The Fortune Society

Patricia Canning
​Iris House 

Ciarra Covin
The Well Project

Dana Diamond
Exponents

Ingrid Floyd, Chair
Iris House

Millicent Freeman 
CUNY BMCC   

Lillibeth Gonzalez
GMHC

Dr. Joyce Turner Keller, PhD.
HIV/Hepatitis Educator & Advocate
CEO, ASPIRATIONS

​Crystal Mitchell
Iris House

Michael Smirlock
Iris House

Kimberly Richardson
Iris House

Paulette Zimmerman
​ACQC