Welcome to the March edition of the Action Report! In this issue, we’re pleased to share the latest updates from U.S. Business Action to End HIV and our dedicated members.
🏆 On March 9th, Houston community partner Allies in Hope hosted the 36th Annual Walk to End HIV. The event brought together individuals, families, businesses, and organizations in a collective effort to raise awareness and funds in the fight against the HIV epidemic in the Greater Houston area.
Chapter managing partner Greater Houston LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce was proud to organize a team with many local employers, including chapter members Avita Care Solutions, Crofoot MD, KPMG, ViiV Healthcare, and Walgreens.
🎗️To honor National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Paramount Pictures hosted teens from the Laurel Foundation, guiding them in using stop-motion animation as a creative tool to combat stigma.
💡 Earlier this month, in collaboration with Building Healthy Online Communities (BHOC), Grindr announced two new optional additions to the app's Sexual Health Practices section: the “I'm on DoxyPEP" and "Condoms" profile field and tag. These new features let users easily share their approach to STI prevention—encouraging open conversations and helping everyone make more informed choices. Check out The Equality Spotlight for more details on the collaboration, showcasing Grindr's dedication to raising awareness, fostering innovation, and normalizing HIV prevention.
📝 The Coalition’s Government Relations & Public Affairs Cohort continues to elevate the voice of the business community in support of efforts to end the HIV epidemic. This month, we reached out to senior officials in the Administration expressing broad private-sector support for the ambitious goal announced by President Trump in 2019 to end the HIV epidemic in the U.S. We underscored the importance of sustained federal investments in HIV prevention and care and highlighted how this work benefits businesses, workers, and communities across the country.
Coalition leaders have also met with congressional offices from both parties and chambers to share information about our work and priorities. We’re grateful to the member companies that have participated in these discussions, including Gilead Sciences, Healthvana, Match Group, MISTR, ViiV Healthcare, Neelyx Labs, and OraSure Technologies.
In addition, the cohort is reaching out to governors whose states include jurisdictions prioritized by the federal Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) initiative.
If you would like to get more involved in this outreach, please email publicpolicy@healthaction.org.
📣 Share Call for New Advisory Council Members: We are pleased to invite new applications from HIV leaders to serve on the Coalition’s national HIV Leadership Advisory Council. As the tenure of our inaugural Advisory Council comes to an end, we are establishing a new cohort of advisors. This Council will serve a two-year term, from April 2025 to April 2027, and will play a key role in guiding the Coalition’s efforts. Interested candidates can apply here through Monday, March 31.
👩💻 Join Member Office Hours: We are excited to host our first monthly Office Hours: Crafting Your Actions on April 1 at 1pm ET / 10am PT. This will be informal, open format, and a great opportunity to connect and collaborate as you draft your commitments for the year. Feel free to drop in at any point during the hour to share your actions, get feedback, ask questions, and share ideas. Register to attend.
💼 Attend the Atlanta Chapter Meeting: Interested in getting involved at the local level or learning about the work of our local business chapters? Join our Atlanta Business Action to End HIV Chapter Meeting on Wednesday, April 9, 11:30-2pm ET, hosted at Mercer's Atlanta office. Both in-person and virtual attendance options are available. Register to attend. The Coalition is excited to attend NMAC's
☕Biomedical HIV Prevention Summit 2025. We invite you to the Innovation Theater in the Exhibit Hall on Friday, April 11th, from 8:30 - 10:00 AM ET for a light breakfast and to enjoy presentations from four Coalition members - Alchemy, Gilead Sciences, Healthvana, and ViiV Healthcare - as they present their latest ideas and innovations to end HIV. If you or a colleague will be attending the conference, we hope you will join us. RSVP here.
📽️ Attend the Los Angeles Chapter Meeting: Join us for the first Los Angeles Business Action to End HIV chapter meeting of the year on Thursday, April 24, 11:30am - 2pm PT, at Paramount Pictures. We look forward to convening corporate members and community partners to discuss key priorities for 2025. Both in-person and virtual attendance options are available. Register to attend.
HIV Education and Advocacy in an Age of Uncertainty
Contagion Live (Mar 11)
The Business Sector's Advocacy to Maintain Funding for HIV Prevention, Research, Treatment
Contagion Live (Mar 14)
Trump Administration Weighing Major Cuts to Funding for Domestic HIV Prevention
Wall Street Journal (Mar 18)
The Health and Human Services Department is weighing plans to drastically cut the federal government’s funding for domestic HIV prevention.
Young people could be most at risk with HIV prevention cuts
Axios (Mar 20)
Prospective cuts to domestic HIV prevention efforts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could widen health disparities and weigh heaviest on young Black and Hispanic men in the South, public health officials say.
HHS to cut thousands of workers in sweeping reorganization
Politico (Mar 27)
The overhaul, which will reduce the workforce by more than 20 percent or 10,000 workers, will affect all HHS agencies, including 2,400 employees eliminated from the CDC and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (the two are being merged).
“Leading by Example” is a series from U.S. Business Action to End HIV highlighting inspiring business leaders who are accelerating progress toward an end to the HIV epidemic in the U.S.
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Michael Steinberg
HSE Health & Medical, Community Health & Partnerships
Chevron
Why has investing in HIV been a priority for Chevron?
Over four decades ago, we began to see the effect AIDS was having on our employees, their families and communities, especially in our then headquarters region near San Francisco. And a few years later, Chevon began noticing that some of our largest operations were in areas where the grip of AIDS was growing rapidly, such as Angola, Nigeria, South Africa, and Thailand.
Chevron took action by developing accurate and evidence-based education materials to address stigma, misinformation and discrimination. Additionally, we launched several partnerships around the globe to help educate communities, prevent new infections, and improve access to care and support.
Our response evolved. In 2005, we were the first oil and gas company to institute a global comprehensive HIV/AIDS Policy and Program for employees, including confidential access to HIV testing and treatment for employees and their dependents. In 2018, we began taking steps to ensure that our employees and qualified dependents have appropriate access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) resources.
Personally, I believe multiple entities have a role in health protection. At Chevron, we believe that business success is inextricably connected to the health and prosperity of the communities where we operate.
And through partnerships, the company has supported programs and projects that aim to strengthen health systems, improve health security, and empower sustainable interventions for preventing disease in our workplace and communities. These aspirations are often aligned with others and the collective impacts of the business community can have compounding and lasting outcomes.
We want to share our learnings and continue our collaborative learning, best practice sharing, and relationship building with organizations supporting workforce and community health efforts in regions where we operate. Through collaboration and partnerships, like with the Coalition, we can often be more effective with stronger, more sustainable impact and outcomes.
Read Michael's full profile here
April 1
Monthly Office Hours: Crafting Your Actions (virtual)
Register here.
April 9
Atlanta Business Action to End HIV Chapter Meeting (hybrid)
RSVP here.
April 11
Breakfast at NMAC’s BioMedical Summit (in person)
RSVP here.
April 24
Los Angeles Business Action to End HIV Chapter Meeting (hybrid)
RSVP here.
May 6
Lunch & Learn: Fighting HIV Stigma through B/ERG Programming (virtual)
Hosted by Greater Houston LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce.
Register here.
June 27
National HIV Testing Day
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