On Tuesday, June 1, 2021, the HHS Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy (OIDP) and U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (USPHS) Officers at Prevention through Active Community Engagement (PACE) hosted the “40 Years of Progress – It’s Time to End the HIV Epidemic” virtual webinar. The national webinar focused on leveraging best practices, innovations, and health equity to end the U.S. HIV epidemic and coincided with the 40th anniversary of when the first five cases of what later would become known as AIDS were officially reported. Opening remarks were delivered by Kaye Hayes, Acting Director of OIDP and Executive Director of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS; Harold Phillips, Senior HIV Advisor at OIDP (subsequently, on June 5th, Harold was named the Director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy) and Chief Operating Officer for the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. initiative; and most notably, Rachel Levine, M.D., Assistant Secretary for Health at HHS.

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Rebecca Nessen, Vice-President of Strategic Initiatives and Precshard Williams, Prevention and Sexual Health Programs Coordinator, both from Region 4 and from Metro Inclusive Health Florida, led the Reenergize portion on their approach to tailoring strategies to reach LGBTQ+ youth communities and those living with or at risk of HIV.