Providers Accessing Training on HIV Stigma- March Webinar

This training is funded by Gilead COMPASS and Southern AIDS Coalition and is free of charge for participants.

****This training will take place 9am-12pm Mountain Time and will be recorded****

What would you do if a client disclosed to you that they are living with HIV?

How much do you know about HIV?

Do you feel uncomfortable at the thought of interacting with a person who is living with HIV?

What messages/information have you heard about HIV and AIDS?

 

This 3-hour live webinar (2.75 hrs) is facilitated by Jonathan Kennedy, a community member with decades of experience educating and training individuals and healthcare professionals in the areas of HIV and sex education within LGBTQ and Latino/a/x communities, and is co-facilitated by Dr. Hilda Ontiveros, PhD. 

PATHS (Providers Accessing Training on HIV Stigma), is our newest program to train mental health providers, social workers, peer group facilitators, therapists, and counselors in the Southern United States about the impact that stigma and bias have on people living with HIV while accessing mental health care and social services. 

Why are we focusing on the Southern states? 

For over a decade, the South has been experiencing disproportionately higher rates of HIV compared to the rest of the United States.  The El Paso/ West Texas region continues to see new cases of HIV, especially among young transgender women and Latinx people of all genders. The effects of COVID and increased state hostility to HIV-prevention activities and comprehensive sex education have significantly weakened efforts to lessen HIV infection rates. El Paso is uniquely positioned as a border community to offer perspective and voices which are often left out of the discussion. Other communities of color in the South are also often left out of the discussion. By focusing this project on the Southern states, we aim to elevate those voices and address the challenges of intersectionality and compounding bias and stigma.

Don't live in a Southern state? Participate anyway! You'll gain valuable insights and perspectives which are often ignored and overshadowed. This experience will enhance your cultural humility.

Participants will be able to:

• Identify how stigma manifests in words and in practice
• Analyze the context of contributing factors of stigma that is specific to the American South and Southern Border region, especially in the context of Black and Latinx communities in the region 
• Analyze and discuss the impact of stigma on people living with HIV and HIV prevention efforts
• Respond in a less stigmatizing manner both in the workplace and outside of the workplace
• Explain how access to mental health and support services prevents the spread of HIV

*If you need accessibility accommodations please contact driep.help@borderlandrainbow.org at least three business days before the event.

Group registration is available! You may register up to 20 participants for your group. Each ticket requires a registration form and you must have the acutal participant's name and email on the registration. For example, if you register 5 people, you will fill out 5 registration forms and must include the individual's names and emails so that they receive their tickets. Do not put your own name and email on all 5 registration forms. 

This training has a participant cap.

Please note the timezone!!!

About the facilitators:

Jonathan Kennedy attended Michigan State University and studied Computer Science Engineering, Communications, and earned a bachelor’s degree in Communications with a minor in English.  He has since studied in Human Resources and Business Administration at Argosy University in Georgia.

Jonathan has been involved and served within the LGBTQ community for over 35 years.  He served as Chairman and CEO of a non-profit organization specifically created to serve the LGBT community in El Paso, Texas.  It was the first of its kind within the West Texas / Southern New Mexico region.   He lived and worked in Mexico for 15 years.  During his years in Mexico, he had extensive experience with volunteering, educating, and training individuals and healthcare professionals in the areas of HIV and sex education within the LGBT Latino communities.  

 Jonathan has several certificates of honors and recognitions from working with other community-based organizations such as PFLAG, Program Compañeros in Ciudad, Juarez, Mexico, El Paso Community Foundation, the City of El Paso and MFactor, El Paso Sun City Pride, and Texas Pride Impact Fund. Additionally, Jonathan is featured in the LGBTQ+ Border Heroes Project!

Dr. Hilda Ontiveros has been a faculty member at UT El Paso for the past 12 years and currently serves as the Director of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program where she teaches courses relevant to Latina Studies, global feminisms, feminist theory, civil rights, queer theory, among others. She has earned her doctoral degree in Educational Leadership and Administration in Higher Education, where her focus was on educational policy and curriculum in both K-12 and higher education institutions. 

She earned a Master of Arts in Latin American and Border Studies and a Master of Education in Educational Leadership and Administration in Higher Education.  Hilda also spent time studying in the Medico Cirujano  (M.D.) program at the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at UACJ. Her research interests include critical pedagogy, educational policy and its effects on minority students, multicultural/culturally relevant curriculum, the sociology of education and women’s healthcare issues on the U.S./Mexico Border.

She enjoys serving her community through volunteer work, such as serving as a children’s volleyball and basketball coach. Her four children also keep her very busy and fulfilled.