Pride Month Spotlight: Gina Brown
This month, the Art Queen of Converge Takiyah "TDub" Ward will highlight community members who have or are positively impacting and pushing the next generation forward.
Gina Brown is a community organizer with the Southern AIDS Coalition. She has worked in the field of HIV for more than 15 years and has been living with HIV for more than 23 years. Gina graduated Magna Cum Laude from Southern University at New Orleans, with a Bachelor of Social Work and a minor in History in 2011. She received her Master's degree in Social Work in 2012. Gina is a former member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA). Gina has served on numerous boards and committees. She currently serves on CrescentCare Health’s Board of Trustees.
Gina is a public speaker and community advocate and has appeared in many magazines and publications, most recently in Ebony and Jet magazine. Gina serves as an Ambassador for the Greater than AIDS Initiative, appearing in the Women, HIV, and Intimate Partner Violence campaign.
Gina truly believes in service work and has made it her life’s mission to help the broader community gain a higher level of health literacy. Gina noticed early on how the stigma around being HIV positive was causing more harm, specifically in the South which is home to almost half of the HIV population in this country. In states where there are still laws in place against those with known status, it is increasingly difficult to receive comprehensive care, medication and build community.
People like Gina are doing the good work through the Southern AIDS Coalition of making sure folks in the South have a safe place to get the help they need. And this work is not easy. As there are few resources to begin with, most if any will go to organizations that cater to MSM or men who have sex with men, leaving the women-led organizations to fend for themselves. Those odds didn’t stop Gina from continuing on her path of healing and advocating for Black women in the south living with HIV/AIDS. She continues to work with orgs across the country to ensure marginalized groups are getting the support they need.
An incredible woman with an even more incredible spirit. We salute you Gina Brown.
