Recognizing the critical need to catalyze and support emerging leadership in HIV/AIDS prevention in countries hard hit by the epidemic, the MAC AIDS Fund launched the Leadership Initiative in collaboration with Columbia University and UCLA in April 2007. In January 2009, we were joined by a new partner in South Africa: the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).

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 program designed to cultivate emerging leaders in South Africa who will make a major contribution to HIV/AIDS prevention advocacy at the local, regional, and/or national levels. The focus of the program is on reducing the spread of HIV and the impact of AIDS by seeding new and innovative HIV prevention programs and promoting gender equality. The Leadership Initiative provides a structured, supportive training Fellowship that enables 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 is 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). As of January 2009, a third partner has joined the initiative -- the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa (HSRC).

What are the goals of the Leadership Initiative?

The Leadership Initiative supports 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 (mid-May to mid-July 2009), the MAC AIDS Leadership Initiative Fellows are immersed in a daily, intensive, in-residence HIV/AIDS prevention training in South Africa, which will include time spent in the Drakensberg region, Pretoria, and Durban. During the training, each Fellow will gain HIV/AIDS prevention knowledge regarding "what works" nationally and locally; each will also design a plan for HIV/AIDS prevention advocacy in her or his respective field with the guidance of an appointed faculty mentor. The training curriculum 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 receive ten months of pilot funds and other support to launch their HIV/AIDS prevention plan in South Africa. All plans focus on the link between the promotion of gender equality and HIV/AIDS prevention. Areas of concentration include such topics as challenging stigma and sexism, reducing sexual and domestic violence, working with men as partners in prevention, promoting educational or economic empowerment, and empowering women to negotiate safer sex with male partners.

What happens during the Leadership Initiative?

During the two-month training period, Fellows participate in specially designed didactic trainings and prevention plan workshops, attend seminars and presentations by HIV/AIDS practitioners and researchers, visit HIV/AIDS-related community-based organizations, and work with their mentors in the development of their prevention plan.

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

• Develop leadership skills that incorporate vision, purpose and clarity in HIV prevention work;
• Develop skills to design and implement an effective, feasible HIV prevention plan with concrete goals, strategies and evaluation components;
• Develop skills to sustain an HIV/AIDS prevention program (budgeting, identifying sources of funding, working with the media);
• Expand knowledge of the multiple factors contributing to HIV transmission; intervention strategies in HIV prevention; gender empowerment and the impact of gender inequality in the spread of HIV; and behavior change interventions;
• Network with local leaders, advocates, and providers in the field of HIV prevention.

To assist with prevention plan development, Fellows receive ten months of mentorship,  advice, support, and feedback regarding the conceptualization and successful implementation of the prevention plan. Further, participants will develop an extensive network of diverse faculty and other cohorts of Fellows that will provide mutual support and collaboration during and following the Fellowship tenure. At the conclusion of the two-month training period, the Leadership Initiative will provide ten months of pilot funding 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. Fore more information on the MAC AIDS Fund, visit http://www.macaidsfund.org.

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.

The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) of South Africa is a statutory body, established in 1968. It supports development nationally, in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and in Africa. It primarily conducts large-scale, policy-relevant, social-scientific projects for public-sector users, non-governmental organizations and international development agencies, in partnership with researchers globally, but specifically in Africa. The HSRC aligns its research activities and structures to South Africa's national development priorities: notably poverty reduction through economic development, skills enhancement, job creation, the elimination of discrimination and inequalities, and effective service delivery. For more information, visit http://www.hsrc.ac.za/.

Program Staff

Anke Ehrhardt (Principal Investigator, HIV Center)
Thomas Coates (Co-Principal Investigator, UCLA)

Laurie Bruns (UCLA, South Africa)
Diane di Mauro (HIV Center)
Joyce Hunter (HIV Center)
Linda Loffredo (HIV Center)
Relebohile Moletsane (HSRC, South Africa)
Mushambi Mutumba (UCLA, South Africa)
Dean Peacock (UCLA, South Africa)
Vasu Reddy (HSRC, South Africa)
Raymond Smith (HIV Center)

Program Participants

Cohort 2:

Kholisa Beatrice Gogela
Estelle Heideman
Nwabisa Jama
Fumane Khanare
Matshidiso Maseko
Babalwa Pinky Mazaleni
Romiela Pillay
Carmen Shadwell

(To view profiles of Cohort 2, click here.)

Cohort 1:

Somaya Latief
Ntokozo Madlala
Constance Sibongile Mamogobo
William Mapham
Joyce Busisiwe Maseko
Nobuntu Matinise
Sybil Nandi Msezane
Mantombi Nala-Preusker
Padmini Patsy Pillay
Jabulisile Tugwana
Wessel van den Berg
Lesley Wood

(To view profiles of Cohort 1, click here.)