In this issue:

  • Shero of the Month
  • Organizing Spotlight
  • Inaugural HIV is Not a Crime Awareness Day Feb 28
  • National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
  • HIV Racial Justice – Centering Black Women Webinar Feb 22
  • Join us for SWARM on Feb 28
  • PWN Sister Circle Virtual Support Group Feb 10 & 24
  • It’s not too late to set your 2022 #HIVResolutions
  • White Folks Dismantling Racism in HIV Spaces February Workshop
  • PWN is Hiring

Shero of the Month: Rymsky Evans

PWN’s February 2022 Shero of the Month is Rymsky Evans of Jackson, Mississippi. Rymsky is an activist, mom of two adult sons, hairstylist, painter, and most recently, the Mississippi State Lead for Positive Women’s Network since November 2021. Diagnosed in 2016, Rymsky didn’t have immediate access to support, so she set out to find it. 

“A lot of people ask, ‘How in the world are you in a good place?’ I have always been the person that didn’t let anything stop me.” It was that spirit that inspired Rymsky to seek out organizations to make an impact and support other people living with HIV. That’s when Rymsky found PWN, and now she’s making waves. From participating with the Sero Project Justice Institute to the Health Not Prisons Collective State Advocates Project, Rymsky continues to hone her advocacy skills for people living with HIV in Mississippi. 

Read on to learn more about Rymsky, her advocacy efforts in her state of Mississippi, and what she hopes to see for people living with HIV in 2022.

Learn more about Rymsky here

Organizing Spotlight: RISE Gender Justice Trainers

Positive Women’s Network – USA launched the R.I.S.E. (Resist, Inspire, Sustain Through Education) Gender Justice Training Academy in 2019. Over two years we paid, trained, prepared, and coached 13 transgender women of color living with HIV, most from the southern part of the United States, to develop and deliver gender-inclusive workshops on a range of topics. Meet our past R.I.S.E. graduates and view their gender justice training curriculum. 

Now with its second cohort, R.I.S.E. welcomes back graduates Alexa Rodriguez, Keiva Lei Cadena, and Octavia Y. Lewis as faculty to help create the next wave of certified PWN trainers. We spoke with Keiva Lei and Alexa about their experience as participants with R.I.S.E. and what they hope to bring in their new faculty role. 

Read the full interview

Inaugural HIV is Not a Crime Awareness Day Feb 28

Across the nation, February 28, 2022 will mark the first HIV Criminalization Awareness Day (HCAD) launched by Sero Project in collaboration with The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF), community activists and organizations in the U.S. and around the world. HCAD is intended to raise awareness of communities impacted by the policing of a person’s health status, the laws that exacerbate disenfranchisement of people living with HIV and other health conditions, and amplify the advocacy underway in the U.S. as well as around the world to end HIV criminalization. 

Show your support and sign on to the letter to demand #HIVisNotACrime

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

February 7 has marked National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness (NBHAAD) Day since 1999: a day for increasing HIV education, testing, treatment, and community involvement in Black communities. Racism, discrimination, and Black people’s understandable mistrust for the health care system have created barriers to HIV testing and treatment in Black communities. NBHAAD helps create the awareness needed to help Black people gain access to the HIV care they need and deserve. Use this social media toolkit​ to help raise awareness on Feb 7, and join us for some upcoming events on that day:

Black Mamas Matter: Breast/Chestfeeding in the Black Community and the Impact on Maternal Health in HIV Criminalization

A call to action for federal organizations to discuss and take action on addressing breast/chest feeding, maternal health/wellbeing, reproductive justice and HIV criminalization. 

Feb 7th at 12pm CT/1pm ET. Register for the event here.​


Power of the Black Vote Facebook Live with Tana Pradia of the Sero Project Justice Initiative

Let’s talk about voting rights for Black Texans, how criminal convictions impact that, and voting rights for people living with HIV. Feb 7th: 5:30pm CT/6:30pm ET. Register for the event​or join on Facebook Live

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Visit United We Rise for the full list of Black-led National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day events

HIV Racial Justice – Centering Black Women Webinar Feb 22


HIV is a racial justice issue, especially for Black women living with HIV.

PWN is dedicated to centering the voices and lived experiences of Black women living with HIV. To do this, we must ensure that PWN members and allies have a strong foundation to discuss racism, and are educated about the broader impact of HIV on Black communities – especially women. Leaders in HIV advocate spaces need to have the skills and practice to discuss HIV as a racial justice issue through defining terminology, explicitly naming populations, and intentionally elevating leadership by Black women, Latinx and TGD folks. We support leadership by those most impacted by connecting our organizational commitment to analyzing policies and programs with a racial justice and gender justice lens in our HIV advocacy work.

After this training, participants will be better able to:

  • Define Racial Justice, Anti Racism, and Anti-Black terminology
  • Understand HIV from a racial justice lens, specifically identifying anti-Black moments in HIV advocacy
  • Identify opportunities to elevate voices of Black and Latinx leaders
  • Empower PWN members to demand inclusion and specific leadership opportunities for BIPOC members and allies
  • Validate feelings of disempowerment experienced by BIPOC advocates
  • Demand active allyship from white members and allies moving to accomplice

Register to join us on February 22 at 6:30pm ET/3:30pm PT

Join us for SWARM on February 28


In 2022, PWN is committed to continue pushing for a federal HIV/AIDS strategy that goes beyond biomedical interventions. We know our “health” is measured beyond simply viral loads or suppression. Instead, we demand that quality of life for people living with HIV is a priority in the domestic HIV response.​If you’re living with HIV in the South, join SWARM for a discussion that will lay out our demands of the federal government and see how you can get involved.

To join the discussion, sign up for SWARM today

PWN Sister Circle Virtual Support Group Feb 10 & 24


Join us this month on Thursdays, Feb 10 and 24th at 8pm ET/7pm CT/5pm PT for PWNCares Sister Circle. #PWNCares Sister Circle is a virtual support group for women and people of trans experience living with HIV. Registration is required for participation.

PWN members will receive a link to join the group once they sign up. We encourage you to join us and invite a friend!

Register here and join us Feb 10 and 24th

It’s not too late to set your 2022 #HIVResolutions

Black and white text that reads "2022 HIV Resolutions: Federal HIV Strategies that Center People Living with HIV". On the bottom right corner is a black fist with a positive sign on its wrist, surrounded by flames.
We’re only one month into the new year – there’s still time to make your #HIVResolutions. This year we’re demanding our federal agencies commit to our HIV resolutions as they begin implementing the 5-year National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS). We resolve to push for a federal strategy that supports our health, quality of life, and liberation – add your name to join our call for the federal government to adopt our 2022 resolutions!

Learn more about our 2022 #HIVResolutions

​White Folks Dismantling Racism in HIV Spaces February Workshop


Join Sero and PWN on February 15th as we continue the work of dismantling racism in HIV spaces. In partnership with Partners for Collaborating Change, we will be hosting quarterly meetings in 2022. Please fill out this Google form​ to provide us with guidance of where you are in your anti-racism journey, what topics we should cover, and approaches we should use throughout the year. Your input will inform and shape this workshop series.

These workshops will be offered quarterly.

Register for the first meeting on February 15th here

PWN is Hiring!


Join our team of dedicated staff! We’re hiring for several positions: 

  • Policy Director
  • Communications Director
  • Policy Associate 
  • National Field Organizer

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.

Submit your application today