ESCALATE

Ending Stigma through Collaboration and Lifting All to Empowerment

ESCALATE (Ending Stigma through Collaboration and Lifting All To Empowerment) is an innovative training and capacity-building initiative specifically designed to address HIV-related stigma that creates barriers at multiple levels of the HIV care continuum.

ESCALATE en español

Register Now!

¡Regístrate ahora!

Focus Population

ESCALATE is open to all Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Recipients (Parts A, B, C, & D). This includes community-based organizations, federally qualified health centers, health departments, planning councils, and planning bodies. Recipients interested in applying can do so as Stigma Reduction Teams.

Ways to Participate

Stigma Reduction Team

You have the opportunity to create a Stigma Reduction Team that represents your organization or community. Stigma Reduction Teams will represent a collaboration between community and Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Recipients Parts: A-D (RWHAP).

  • Stigma Reduction Teams consist of one person living publicly with HIV from the community (not employed by organization) and RWHAP partners.
  • A Stigma Reduction Team may have multiple RWHAP partners, but must always have one person with HIV from the community as a partner.

Organizational Training

Does your entire organization desire capacity building and training on HIV-related stigma? ESCALATE now provides an opportunity for your organization to attend training together.

Through participation in training, TA, and LCs, Stigma Reduction Teams will support people with HIV in urban, rural, and Native communities; Ryan White Care Providers, Planning Councils, in urban, rural, and Native communities, with a special focus on transgender/gender non-conforming individuals, men who have sex with men, and the Black/African-American community.

Stigma Reduction Teams will represent a collaboration between community and Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Recipients. Stigma Reduction Teams consist of one person living publicly with HIV from the community and at least one RWHAP partner. A Stigma Reduction Team may have multiple RWHAP partners, but must always have one person with HIV from the community as a partner.

The 2024 ESCALATE Training Program includes the following:

DateLocationNMAC Staff/LeadNotes
Jan. 22-26 2024Philadelphia, PA.Marshun RedmondCheck-in: Jan. 21, 2024
Feb. 26 - Mar. 1, 2024Miami, FL– (EN ESPAÑOL)Cora Trelles-CartagenaCheck-in: Feb. 25, 2024
Mar. 11-15, 2024Albeqerque, NM. (Native)Christopher PaisanoCheck-in: Mar. 10, 2024
Mar. 11-15, 2024Virtual (EN ESPAÑOL)Cora Trelles-CartagenaCheck-in: Mar. 10, 2024
Apr. 22-24, 2024Seattle WA. (Medical Staff)Marshun RedmondCheck-in: Apr. 21, 2024
May. 20-24, 2024Baton Rouge, LA.Marshun RedmondCheck-in: May. 19, 2024
Jun. 17-21, 2024DC/MD/VA (locals only) Marshun RedmondCheck-in: June. 16, 2024
Jun. 24-28, 2024Chicago, IL (Español)Cora Trelles-CartagenaCheck-in: Jun. 23, 2024
July. 15-19, 2024Minneapolis, MN.  (Native)Christopher PaisanoCheck-in: Jul 14, 2024
Aug. 12-16, 2024 (Virtual)VirtualMarshun RedmondCheck-in: Aug.13, 2024

The Model

The ESCALATE program offers three tracks to mitigate and eliminate stigma in HIV-related service provision in the United States.

While ESCALATE will have a strong focus on recruiting participants from within the 57 jurisdictions identified in the Federal Plan to End the HIV Epidemic in the United States, ESCALATE is open to all Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program recipients (Parts A, B, C, & D) regardless of jurisdiction.

  • New and Innovative Training: Training is designed to reduce HIV-related stigma through evidence-informed interventions and strategies with an emphasis on cultural humility for HIV service systems, organizations, and individuals. Training is designed to meet the needs of individual RWHAP care providers (e.g., clinicians, administrators, patient navigators) who acknowledge the impact of HIV-related stigma on their client populations and communities. These individuals are ready to create change but may not have the organizational capacity needed to create change across their clinical setting.
  • Technical Assistance (TA): ESCALATE provides tailored TA to individual organizations by assessing TA needs, aligning TA activities and learning opportunities to those needs, and assessing the impact of TA on organizational behavior and change. TA participants will be matched with TA Coaches and Subject Matter Experts to address organization-specific goals through intensive 1:1 TA.
  • Learning Collaboratives (LC): ESCALATE will implement a Learning Collaborative from April 2023 to July 2024 with up to 16 RWHAP recipients/sub-recipients who are seeking to address HIV stigma experienced by their staff and/or clients. Organizations will participate in a multi-step process of developing, planning, implementing, evaluating, and refining a Stigma Reduction Initiative for a specific population of focus.

    They will receive coaching, opportunities for peer-to-peer learning, and support from stigma-reduction subject matter experts. In addition, they will engage in collaborative tracking of progress and practice continuous quality improvement techniques intended to enhance their initiative over time. Click here to learn more about the Learning Collaborative, determine if you are eligible to participate, and apply!

Download ESCALATE Concept Note

Team

  • NMAC: Training
  • TRX Development Solutions: Project Evaluation

HRSA Grant Number: U69HA39335

ESCALATE is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Minority HIV/AIDS Fund (MHAF) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $1,600,906. 100 percentage funded by HRSA/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA/HHS, or the U.S. Government.

Contact Information

Project Contacts:

Duante' Brown
ESCALATE/ELEVATE Manager
NMAC
202-336-4497
Christopher J. Paisano
ESCALATE Program Coordinator
NMAC
202-997-0396

HRSA Contacts:

PO Name
LaQuanta P. Smalley, MPH, BSN, RN, CPN
PO Title
Nurse Consultant – Clinical & Quality Branch
PO Phone
(301) 443-0995

Funding:

Funding Mechanism: Cooperative Agreement

Recipient Organization: NMAC

Grant number: U69HA39478

Project Period: 9/1/2020 - 8/31/2024