Damone Thomas

Damone Thomas got his first taste of HIV/AIDS Advocacy as a volunteer when he was a high school student in Kingston, Jamaica where he was born and raised. In 2008 Damone worked behind the scenes in several different HIV organizations learning the mechanics of advocacy, which later helped him start his own organization. In September, just two months after the XIX International AIDS Conference of 2012, Damone started his own HIV Advocacy Campaign called Healing with Hope (HwH). Along with his online effort to promote awareness to the Faith and Caribbean Community in Los Angeles County and beyond. He is currently enrolled in the BA in Human Services Administration program at Antioch University and Board Co-Chair for To Help Everyone (T.H.E) Health & Wellness Center.

Please contact Damone Thomas at HEALINGwHOPE@gmail.com

Eddie Sanders

Eddie Sanders has over 20 years of experience in addressing the health care, housing and psychosocial service needs of Los Angeles County’s most vulnerable residents, particularly those impacted by HIV/AIDS, substance abuse and/or homelessness. Eddie is the Associate Director of Grants for Northeast Valley Health Corporation (NEVHC), a Federally Qualified Health Center that serves over 72,000 low-income patients across 14 licensed Health Centers throughout the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys, including their Van Nuys Adult Health Center, which specializes in the treatment of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis-C Virus, as well as two Health Care for the Homeless sites.  Since 2006, Eddie has strategically raised millions of dollars in public and private grants, expanding NEVHC’s physical and programmatic capacity to respond to the growing demand for low-cost, comprehensive medical, dental and behavioral health services. Additionally, since 2008, Eddie has served as Co-Chair for the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valley Homeless Coalition.  This cross sector coalition has over 35 active member agencies that work year-round on collaborative projects to help end homelessness in “The Valleys.”  For the past 3 years, the Coalition has been scaling up the region’s Coordinated Entry System model, which streamlines individuals and families into permanent housing and connects them to needed services.

Prior to NEVHC, from 2001- 2006, Eddie was the Housing & Development Assistant for Safe House (a subsidiary of Friends Research Institute, Inc. [FRI]).  Located in North Hollywood, Safe House provided emergency, transitional and permanent housing to homeless individuals living with HIV/AIDS who also had histories, or active conditions, of mental illness and/or chemical dependency.  Abiding by Safe House’s high tolerance/harm reduction model, Eddie facilitated intake assessments, navigated clients to and from off-site appointments, provided housing location support and wrote grant proposals to help sustain and expand the project.  During 2003-2006, he was also the Secretary for the SPA 2 HIV Consortium.

From 1998-2001, Eddie worked at FRI’s Friends Health Center in Hollywood, where he was a 1) Research and Lab Assistant on a NIDA-Funded study that provided cognitive behavioral therapy, HIV risk reduction and contingency management services for MSM/MSMW struggling with methamphetamine abuse, and 2) HIV Risk Reduction Counselor for a Post-Exposure Prophylaxis Project.

Contact: esanders@nevhc.org

Ricky Rosales

Ricky Rosales was appointed the sixth AIDS Coordinator for the City of Los Angeles on July 1, 2012. In this role, he advises the Mayor and City Council on HIV, Hepatitis and related health issues. He is currently serving as co-chair of the Los Angeles County Commission on HIV and has previously chaired both the Los Angeles County HIV Prevention Planning Committee and the California HIV Planning Group. Ricky joined the CHIPTS CAB because of his interest in expanding the visibility of locally developed research and programs in the prevention field. Interventions that take into account the unique needs of the local community are vital to stemming the spread of HIV in Los Angeles.

Contact: ricky.rosales@lacity.org

 

Dahlia Ferlito, MPH

Dahlia Ferlito, MPH, earned a Master’s of Public Health degree at California State University, Northridge and has extensive experience working in the field of HIV/AIDS and substance abuse in nonprofit and research settings; including Cambridge Cares About AIDS, Asian Pacific Health Care Venture, the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center and Friends Research Institute. Dahlia has coordinated comprehensive HIV and STD prevention programs that involved sexual education, street outreach, HIV test counseling, Comprehensive Risk Counseling Services, Motivational Interviewing, and HIV Health Education/Risk Reduction and is a certified HIV Testing Counselor, Family Planning Counselor, and Reproductive Health Counselor. Dahlia is a founding member of the County of Los Angeles Testing, Linkage to Care Plus.

Contact: dahlia.ferlito@lacity.org

Aaron Celious, PhD

Aaron Celious, PhD is an applied sociologist whose work focuses on how to best develop, implement and evaluate public health programs and policies. This includes understanding how to match the capabilities of an organization with the wants and needs of the target community. Recent projects include: (a) developing the HIV/AIDS Strategy for the City of Los Angeles AIDS Coordinator’s Office, (b) developing the HIV Zero Initiative and evaluation plan for the City of West Hollywood, (c) testing the efficacy of mental health promoter programs (promotores de salud) for the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, (d) assessing the potential to implement an HIV risk assessment as part of a standard patient encounter in a primary care setting, (e) examining barriers and motivators to implement routine opt-out HIV tests at health clinics in Los Angeles, and (f) evaluating the Domestic Abuse Response Team (DART) program for the City of Los Angeles Mayor’s Office. He is a current member of the American Public Health Association, the Community Advisory Board for UCLA Center for HIV Identification, Prevention (CHIPTS), and the Community Advisory Board for UCLA Center for AIDS research (CFAR). In addition, Aaron is also a filmmaker who writes and directs comedy and psychological thrillers. He is a director/writer fellow of Film Independent’s Project Involve, a fellow of the Guy Hanks Marvin Miller writing program at USC, a 2010 HBO Directing Fellow finalist, and a Groundlings theater alumna.

Contact: celious@maroonsociety.com

Natalie Sanchez, MPH

Natalie Sanchez, MPH, has dedicated her career to HIV prevention with 15 years of HIV work experience implementing CDC evidence based prevention interventions, developing Social Marketing campaigns, and successfully incorporating CDC recommended guidelines for HIV and Hepatitis C screening and PrEP implementation into AltaMed’s 24 clinic network. Natalie is a two time BRUIN with a Master in Public Health degree from UCLA’s Executive MPH Program and holds a Bachelor degree in Sociology. Natalie is Studer trained in Evidence-Based Leadership which has improved clinical quality, patient satisfaction, and more importantly employee engagement. She has a background in program development, project management, and community planning. She is well-known for her work as creator and writer of the award-winning telenovela webseries “Sin Vergüenza” which addresses HIV in Latino communities. Her educational training in socio-cultural and gender related topics has influenced her approach to addressing public health issues. As the HIV Prevention Manager at AltaMed, she has created and led some of the largest and most successful HIV campaigns as well as implemented a combination of public health strategies to reduce HIV infections in Southern California. Natalie is currently the Administrator of AltaMed’s Specialty Department where she manages a team of 50 employees overseeing medical and prevention services for HIV and Hepatitis C.  AltaMed serves over 1700 HIV positive clients and is one of the largest Latino HIV medical providers in Southern California with clinics in Los Angeles and Orange County.