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CHAMP Academy is a training, technical assistance, and capacity building program dedicated to strengthening an HIV/AIDS movement rooted in social, economic and racial justice.

We work with people of all ages, from all backgrounds, and with all levels of experience. Our participants are united by a commitment to ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

While our training is grounded in community mobilization and organizing, many of our participants have found that it has also helped them in their service and education work in HIV prevention, treatment and care.

What kind of training does CHAMP offer?

We offer a range of training opportunities in a variety of settings, including:

• Organizational collaborations on campaign planning through our Prevention Justice Partnerships

• In-depth Prevention Justice Seminars on HIV prevention policy and movement building

• Comprehensive Skills Training for community organizers and activist leaders

• Conference Presentations and skills-building workshops

Prevention Justice Partnerships (PJP)
The PJP is a training, technical assistance and capacity-building project to help local groups build skills for sustained advocacy. Eligible Prevention Justice Partners are a core group of 10-15 prevention activists who are part of a local, regional or national organization or coalition. The 12-month program provides leadership development, community organizing, and strategic media planning for moving forward on a locally-relevant, winnable, community-based prevention policy campaign. CHAMP staff provide two full days of on-site training each quarter, hold weekly support calls with the project coordinator, and monthly teleconferences with the core group.

Prevention Justice Seminar
This two-month training course meets twice a week as an intensive, intergenerational course in which participants share experiences and skills and learn new information towards building the movement for HIV prevention justice. Each meeting of our seminar includes presentations, guest speaker discussions, and reading materials. Participants are expected to complete homework and work on a group event or project.

Community Organizing Training
This year, CHAMP is launching a five-day course to help activist leaders become well-rounded community organizers. Graduates will understand power relationships and criteria for choosing appropriate issues for advocacy; be able to develop strategies, build coalitions and work with the media; and have tools for increasing the power and stability of local leaders as well as collaborations with service organizations. The training uses the rich history of the HIV/AIDS movement and allied struggles to explore the next steps for organizers in today’s climate.

Workshops for Conferences and Organizations
CHAMP Academy workshops can be 1-6 hours in length, and combine factual information with debate and dialogue and hands-on practice. We are happy to adapt existing workshops to your needs. Here are a few examples of popular workshops:

Power is the Ability to Make Things Happen: An Introduction to Community Organizing and Leadership
Using real-life examples from HIV/AIDS activism, this interactive workshop puts theory into practice and gives participants the opportunity to develop hypothetical or actual action plans based on their own strengths, skills and interests as leaders.

Stages of Chang(ing) the World
How can you build community activism into busy outreach and service organizations? This course links behavior change theory and harm reduction counseling skills with community organizing practice, in order to increase involvement in effective advocacy.

Fighting Back, Fighting AIDS: History of our HIV/AIDS Movements
This multimedia workshop explores the vibrant history of the national and international movements on HIV/AIDS, the place of AIDS activism within the wider context of social and political struggles, and current challenges of domestic and international solidarity activism.

HIV Prevention Policies: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
A historical overview and analysis of HIV/AIDS prevention policies, including key debates in prevention research, programs and public policies, this workshop helps prevention workers and allies find a voice in the larger systems affecting our work fighting HIV/AIDS.

CHAMP Academy has provided custom training for our allies in the AIDS movement, including the Global AIDS Alliance, Black AIDS Institute, and the Campaign to End AIDS. We have facilitated strategic planning sessions for the Federal AIDS Policy Partnership, AIDS Treatment Activist Coalition, and Student Global AIDS Campaign. Please contact us if you have ideas for ways we can collaborate with your organization or coalition.

Our curricula offers training on issues as well as skills-building, including:

• Domestic Treatment Access
• Federal AIDS Policies
• History of AIDS Activism
• Global and Domestic Solidarity
• Next Generation HIV Prevention
• Understanding HIV Prevention Research
• Coalition Building
• Activist Campaign and Strategy Development
• Meeting Facilitation
• Grassroots Campaign Fundraising
• Community Outreach and Organizational “In-Reach”
• Integrating Advocacy into Non-Profit Organizations
• Leadership Development
• Making Trainings Interactive
• Train-the-Trainers
• Media Skills and Strategies
• Planning and Implementing Protest Tactics
• Regulations Affecting Non-Profit Advocacy
• Strategies for Youth Involvement

How can I learn more?

Contact: Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP)
Lei Chou, Director of Mobilization
leichou@champnetwork.org / 212.937.7955 x 40

CHAMP Academy
32 Broadway, Suite 1801
New York, NY 10004