Faith-Based Coalitions and Collaborative Partnerships

 Faith-Based Coalitions & Collaborative Partnerships

My faith doesn't let me sit on the sidelines. Interfaith work isn't something I do in addition to my calling — it is my calling. Wherever I serve, I lead. And I lead because the stakes are too high not to.

For more than 15 years, I've been building coalitions at the intersection of faith, public health, and justice — because faith communities have the trust, the reach, and the moral authority to change how we respond to HIV, substance use, and stigma. But only if we show up.

Westminster Empowerment Center & Interfaith Forum for LGBTQIA+ Faith Leaders and Allies
Co-Executive Director · Founder, Interfaith Forum

Westminster Empowerment Center is the ministry I help lead every day — empowering lives through faith, education, and healing, and breaking the stigma around HIV and substance use with truth, love, and hope. No judgment. Just presence.

Under that same roof, I founded the Interfaith Forum for LGBTQIA+ Faith Leaders and Allies — because LGBTQIA+ people of faith deserve spiritual homes that affirm their full humanity. This forum brings together faith leaders and allies across traditions to learn, support one another, and lead with love, not condemnation.

DC Community Partnership Council (CPC) — DC CFAR

As Chair, I make sure the people most affected by HIV have a real seat at the table — not a token voice, but genuine influence over research priorities and direction at the DC Center for AIDS Research.

National CFAR CAB Coalition (N3C)

I chair this national CFAR Community Advisory Boards Coaltion because community members deserve to help shape HIV research, not just participate in it. We are partners, not subjects.

Presbyterian Health, Education and Welfare Association (PHEWA) & Presbyterian HIV Network

As Moderator of PHEWA, I help the Presbyterian Church (USA) live out its commitment to the most vulnerable. Faith without action isn't faith — it's comfort.

National Faith HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

The church can be a refuge or a source of shame for people living with HIV. I show up at this observance every year because I believe faith communities can choose differently — and I'm going to keep making that case.

U.S. HIV/AIDS Faith Coalition (USCAFAITH)

Every year before USCHA, this coalition brings faith leaders and advocates together to build real capacity. Strategy meets spirit. This is where the work gets done.

PHOTO: Cedric Pulliam, Khadijah Abdullah, George Kerr III, and Dr. Ulysses Burley III