SisterLove's Youth Leadership

S. Jackson

Sisterlove, Inc Staff

Two of our young staff members are members of two separate programs. Shanebrae Price is a 2011 Black AIDS Institute African American HIV University Fellow. Shantrell Jackson is a 2011 Sierra Club Global Population and Environment (GPE) fellow. The Sierra Club GPE fellowship is a nationwide six-month fellowship program that equips outstanding working young/student activists leaders with continual training, resources and mentorship to implement self-designed campaigns that elevate population, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and environmental protection among youth audiences (www.sierraclub.org) .

This blog is for her Sierra Club GPE fellowship but its purpose is to celebrate Shanebrae Price (SisterLove’s HIV Outreach, Advocacy and Prevention Specialist) and a Black AIDS Institute African American HIV University (AAHU) fellow. In this blog you will be able to understand the role she plays at AAHU and her community mobilization project.

What is African American HIV University?

AAHU is a comprehensive training and internship fellowship program. The program is designed to decrease HIV stigma and misperception and increase the engagement of the Black community in HIV prevention and treatment services. See (www.blackaids.org) for more information on AAHU and visit the website.

Shanebrae what are you doing as a fellow in this program?

I am conducting a project that is focused on mobilizing the family planning and teen pregnancy prevention community. I am partnering with Lytani Wilson with the Center for Black Women’s Wellness to start the community mobilization project.

Where are you thus far in the community mobilization project?

As of right now we have accomplished two different phases of the AAHU program. The first quarter at AAHU we focused on a “needs assessment”. We conducted a gap analysis and assessed the needs of our target audience - Black adolescent females. The second  quarter we returned to AAHU for a week to learn “coalition building”. Coalition building is when we established a core team and bring together a group of advocates and educators interested in family planning and teen pregnancy prevention to form the coalition. There are four different meetings in Los Angeles and each meeting is one week long. We learn the tools that it takes to successfully accomplish each phase of the training and internship.

What do you want as the desired outcome with this project?

I would like establish partnerships between organizations that provide health education to the youth population and family planning to prevent teen pregnancy in the Atlanta. Our ultimate goal is incorporate HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI)  prevention into their curriculum.

Why did you choose to apply and participate in Black AIDS Institute AAHU?

 I chose to apply and participate in AAHU for professional growth and leadership development; to establish relationships, network and to build programs from the ground up.

Do you have any other comments Shanebrae?

The AAHU helps me understand the intricate details required to develop and implement a program. Before you take action you have to have a plan. AAHU is also teaching us the core components of public health evaluation. This program enhances both personal and professional growth.

(Be the change you want to see in the world *Gandhi*)