HOW TO ORGANIZE A COALITION/COMMITTEE

The purpose of an NLAAD Coalition is to raise awareness about the importance of HIV prevention efforts in your community. Organizing community members to form an NLAAD coalition will help you forge new or strengthen existing partnerships in the fight against HIV/AIDS, organize collectively and pool existing community resources to expand the reach of local National Latino AIDS Awareness Day activities.

If you are interested in forming an NLAAD coalition, first contact your local Hispanic/Latino service organizations, community centers, church leaders, advocates, people living with the virus and other community leaders you feel may want to become involved. At this time, explain to them what NLAAD is, the purpose of the coalition and the benefits to them and your community.

Then, follow-up with a letter that reiterates the information you have already discussed and focus on the purpose of the coalition (e.g. to form a coalition that is dedicated to raising awareness about HIV prevention and education within Hispanic/Latino communities).

If you are located within the community, try to organize a meeting to become acquainted with those interested in participating. If you are located outside of the community, a conference call can be organized to discuss your collaboration/and/or partnership.

At your first meeting, provide the group with:

• An agenda to help guide you and the group through the meeting
• Statistics about Hispanics/Latinos and HIV
• Information regarding the National Latino AIDS Awareness Day
• Examples of different activities your coalition could organize together.

Because every community is different it is important to identify and discuss the priorities for your community. Therefore, brainstorming ideas and suggestions may be a great way to gain consensus on the goals your coalition would like to achieve. Depending on the size of your group, subcommittees may be a way to divide activities, roles and responsibilities such as media, press, organizing, fundraising, materials and proclamation development, etc.

Coalition building is formed on the consensus of members and therefore is extremely beneficial to creating a large success in your area. If you have any questions or need additional information, contact Liliana Rañón, NLAAD Director, at (212) 675-3288 ext. 315, lranon@latinoaids.org.

¡Buena Suerte!