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). The Leadership Initiative enrolled its final cohort of Fellows in 2010 and is now building a network of leaders in HIV prevention from throughout South Africa.

 

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), the UCLA Program in Global Health (University of California, Los Angeles), and the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa (HSRC).

For the first two months of the program, Fellows were immersed in an intensive, in-residence HIV/AIDS prevention training focused on evidence-based HIV prevention, gender equity, and leadership skills. . Each Fellow also designed a prevention plan for HIV/AIDS prevention advocacy in her or his respective field under the guidance of program staff. Upon completion of the training, the prevention plan was implemented by the Fellow with pilot funds provided by the program, over the remaining 10 months of the fellowship year. During the two-month training period, Fellows participated in specially designed didactic trainings and prevention plan workshops, attended seminars and presentations by HIV/AIDS practitioners and researchers, visited HIV/AIDS-related community-based organizations, and worked with program staff in the development of their prevention plan.

The major goals of the training were the following:

o Expand knowledge regarding HIV transmission with an emphasis on obtaining relevant, useful information and developing effective intervention strategies in HIV prevention;

o Develop leadership skills that incorporate vision, purpose and clarity in HIV prevention work;

o Expand knowledge of the impact of gender inequality on the spread of HIV and develop skills for gender empowerment and advocacy

o Develop skills to provide effective, nonjudgmental communication about human sexuality and HIV/AIDS with different target populations in professional settings;

o Develop skills to conceptualize, design and implement an effective, feasible HIV prevention plan with concrete goals, objectives and evaluation components;

o Develop skills to sustain an HIV/AIDS prevention program (e.g., budgeting, identifying sources of funding, working with the media, capacity building, networking, facilitation skills);

 

o Network with local leaders, advocates, media, and service providers in the field of HIV prevention, as well as with other Leadership Initiative Fellows.

 

As of June 2010, the Leadership Initiative has trained four cohorts of Fellows, and is now building among them, a network of leaders in HIV prevention throughout South Africa. At present, Fellows continue to carry out their prevention plans in both urban and rural areas in seven of the nine South African provinces.

Questions may be directed to the Program Director, Dr. Diane di Mauro, at leadhiv@pi.cpmc.columbia.edu. Please note that no new Fellows are being enrolled at this time.

 

 

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 $135 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. For 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/.

 Participants

 

 

Program Fellows

Cohort 4:

Cheryl Kader
Lerato Makhele
Nsununguli Mbongolwane
Azwihangwisi Mudzusi
Lindokuhle Ngcobo
Bongiwe Nxumalo
Jacqueline Pienaar
Shomane Pillay
Prim-Rose Shabane
Lunga Sidzumo
Ramadimetja Thobejane
Amelia Vukeya-Motsepe

 

(To view profiles of Cohort 4, click here.)

(Photo by Diane di Mauro)

Cohort 3:

 

Misheck Dube
Kerry Frizelle
Buyisile Hlabano
Nandipha Jacobs
Zimkitha Mahlungulu
Livhuwani Mashudu Mashamba
Vuyelwa Mtimkulu
Thoko Mnisi
Buyiswa Mpini
Thabo Msibi
Tarryn Nell
Joanne Richards
Cashane Soobiah
Pindiso Ziki

(To view profiles of Cohort 3, click here.)
(Photos by Joyce Hunter)

 

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.)
(Photos by Mark Cap)

 

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.)
(Photos by Eve Vagg)

 

Program Staff

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

Relebohile Moletsane (Program Director, HSRC)
Diane di Mauro (Program Director, HIV Center)
Laurie Bruns (Program Director, UCLA, South Africa)

Joyce Hunter (HIV Center)
Linda Loffredo (HIV Center)
Mushambi Mutuma (UCLA, South Africa)
Dean Peacock (UCLA, South Africa)
Lisa Wiesebiek (HSRC, South Africa)
Vasu Reddy (HSRC, South Africa)
Raymond Smith (HIV Center)

(Photo by Mark Cap)

 

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