Recognizing the critical need to catalyze and encourage new and emerging leadership in HIV/AIDS prevention within countries hard hit by the epidemic, the MAC AIDS Fund launched the Leadership Initiative in collaboration with Columbia University and UCLA. If you have the initiative, the vision, and the determination to become a leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS in South Africa, we would like to help you take the next step.

What is the Leadership Initiative?

The Leadership Initiative is a one-year training program designed to help cultivate emerging women leaders in South Africa who will make a major contribution to HIV/AIDS prevention advocacy at the local, regional, or national levels. The focus of the program is on reducing the spread of HIV and the impact of AIDS by addressing the role of gender inequality.

The Leadership Initiative provides a structured, supportive program to enable participants to learn about and engage in the exchange of successful approaches to HIV/AIDS prevention that can be modified to meet local needs. This program is underwritten by the MAC AIDS Fund and directed by the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies (Columbia University, New York City) and the UCLA Program in Global Health (University of California, Los Angeles).

What are the goals of the Leadership Initiative?

The Leadership Initiative aims to support the emergence of new leaders who will contribute to the development of effective approaches that reduce the spread and impact of HIV/AIDS.

For the first two months of the program, Fellows will be immersed in an intensive two-month HIV/AIDS prevention training, consisting of two weeks in Johannesburg at the offices of the UCLA Program in Global Health (10-23 September 2008) and six weeks in New York City at the HIV Center (1 October – 12 November 2008). During this time, each Fellow will design a plan for HIV/AIDS prevention advocacy in her respective field. Fellows will also gain and share HIV/AIDS prevention knowledge of "what works" within and outside of their home country. The program is global in scope, based on best-practices in HIV prevention that have been identified in countries throughout the world.

 Following the two-month training period, Fellows will receive seed funds and other support to launch their HIV/AIDS prevention plan in South Africa. All plans will focus on the link between gender inequality and HIV/AIDS prevention. Possible areas of concentration include reducing sexual and domestic violence, promoting educational or economic empowerment, challenging stigma and sexism, working with men as partners in prevention, and empowering women to negotiate safer sex with male partners.

What happens during the Leadership Initiative?

During the two-month training period, to be split between South Africa and the HIV Center in New York, Fellows will participate in an orientation overview, attend regularly scheduled prevention seminars and policy meetings, and hold meetings with mentors.

The two-month intensive training, which is rigorous and involves a full-time commitment, will provide participants with the opportunity to

• learn how to carry out HIV/AIDS prevention programs (development, implementation, adaptation, and evaluation);
• develop skills to sustain an HIV/AIDS prevention program (budgeting, identifying sources of funding);
• build leadership skills;
• network with local leaders, advocates, and providers in the field of HIV prevention;
• develop an HIV/AIDS prevention advocacy plan and build the skills to implement it.

                                     

Each fellow will be matched with a supportive, one-on-one mentor from the program who will assist with project development and implementation. Participants will also develop a network with other participants that will continue to provide mutual support and collaboration while in South Africa. At the conclusion of the two-month training period, the Leadership Initiative will provide funds for fellows to carry out their HIV/AIDS prevention programs in South Africa.

About the sponsors

Established in 1994 by MAC Cosmetics, the MAC AIDS Fund supports men, women, and children affected by HIV/AIDS globally. Introducing its first VIVA GLAM lipstick that same year, MAC decided that every cent of the selling price of the VIVA GLAM lipsticks would go to the MAC AIDS Fund. With a total of four VIVA GLAM lipsticks now sold worldwide, and through the annual Kids Helping Kids Card Program, MAC Cosmetics has provided over $86 million (US) to date for the MAC AIDS Fund. The MAC AIDS Fund is the heart and soul of the company – with its employees giving their time, energy, and talent to help those affected by HIV/AIDS worldwide.

Founded in 1987, the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies is a multidisciplinary research center at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University that serves as a national and international hub for research and engagement with a broad range of HIV-infected and -affected populations. For more than 20 years, the HIV Center has played a leading role in advancing research on the HIV prevention needs of women and men, including in South Africa and other parts of the developing world. For more information on the HIV Center, visit http://www.hivcenternyc.org.

The UCLA Program in Global Health partners with academic institutions in developing countries to advance prevention, policy, and clinical research for HIV/AIDS and other diseases in all regions of the world. They work with developing-country partners to integrate treatment and prevention of HIV, implement innovative prevention programs, stimulate the implementation of beneficial policies and laws, address gender inequity, and train the next generation of U.S. and developing-country scientists and advocates to continue this essential work. For more information, visit http://www.globalhealth.med.ucla.edu.