Building Power Across the Spectrum 2021

November 5-6 2021

 

 

Get Ready for Building Power Across the Spectrum 2021!

Building Power Across the Spectrum 2021 — North Carolina AIDS Action Network's Advocacy Conference - is almost here! This event will include plenty of breakout sessions for experienced and beginning advocates. Join us on Friday, November 5th and Saturday, November 6th to learn how to improve lives and fight for the rights of people living with HIV and hepatitis, people who use drugs, and affected communities. Presenters are all grassroots leaders and respected experts. We are excited to announce that this year the conference will be a hybrid conference, so it will take place both in-person and virtually. Day 1 sessions will be completely virtual. Day 2 will take place in-person in Charlotte, with a livestream option available for both plenary and breakout workshop sessions. Day 2 will be at the Embassy Suites by Hilton located at 4800 South Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28217.

For Day 2, we will be implementing COVID-19 safety protocols to help us facilitate this conference as safely as possible. We will be providing COVID-19 rapid tests onsite and will be requiring all in-person conference attendees to be tested and test negative for COVID-19 to attend in-person. Masks will also be provided and required to be worn at all times except when you are actively eating or drinking — this may change if state and local regulations change, but the CDC recommends indoor mask wearing regardless of vaccination status to reduce your chance of both contracting and transmitting COVID-19. We will continue to follow local, state, and federal guidelines and will keep this page updated with our health and safety practices and protocols.

Day 1 of BPAS 2021 will be focused on harm reduction —  and will explore and cover a range of intersecting issues that are important to people living with HIV, hepatitis or people who use drugs. We will do a deep dive into strategies to equip advocates with the tools and knowledge needed to advocate for themselves and their community. 

Later that evening, we will be hosting our Building Power Across the Spectrum Welcome Reception where we will present the Advocate of the Year awards and the Local Health Department of the Year award. The Advocate of the Year award recognizes the contributions of amazing North Carolina advocates who have impacted our state’s HIV community. The Local Health Department of the Year award is awarded to local health departments who have demonstrated exemplary work and service, have enriched the lives of people living with HIV in their community, and worked to prevent new HIV transmissions. The Welcome Reception will be in-person from 5:30pm to 7:30pm at the Embassy Suites by Hilton located at 4800 South Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28217. Register for the Building Power Across the Spectrum Welcome Reception here. 

Day 2 will cover a wide range of topics related to HIV and its intersections and will provide greater understanding of the issues we are facing and its impact on people living with or vulnerable to HIV in the community. We will also be discussing current events, such as COVID-19 and attacks on abortion access, and our role as advocates on these issues.

This conference is a free event. We do not want cost to be a barrier to attending, but appreciate those who are able to make a contribution to defray expenses. If you are able to make a contribution, please select the “BPAS 2021 Sponsored Ticket” when you register. 

We have some exciting swag and surprises in store and we do not want anyone to miss out! Be sure to register for BPAS 2021 by October 27th. People who register for the conference after the deadline will still be able to register for the conference, but we may not be able to guarantee in-person admission or swag and surprises. Even if you cannot attend the entire conference, be sure to register to receive the recordings of all of the sessions following the conference.

We have secured a hotel room block at the Embassy Suites by Hilton located at 4800 South Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28217. To make your reservation, you can either call the hotel directly at 704-527-8400, or make a reservation by calling 1-800-EMBASSY and providing the representative with our group code: NCA. You can also make your reservation online here. The last day to book your room under our hotel room block is October 25th.

Thanks to our BPAS 2021 Sponsors: 

Avita Pharmacy * Community Catalyst * Cone Health * ViiV * Latino Commission on AIDS * LGBTQ Center of Raleigh * Merck * PhRMA

 

***Click here for BPAS 2021 COVID-19 Protocols & free COVID-19 testing options.***

 

Building Power Across the Spectrum 2021 - Agenda

(Note: This agenda is tentative and is subject to change.)

Friday, November 5th - Day 1

9:30am

Welcome

10am - 11am

Workshops  

ChemSex Ed 

Ballroom Community — Intersection of Harm Reduction & HIV 

11am - 11:15am

Break

11:15am - 12:15pm

Workshops 

Beyond NC’s Good Samaritan Law

COVID-19 Vaccine Equity & Harm Reduction

12:15pm - 12:30pm

Break

12:30pm - 1:45pm

Lunch Plenary - Why is Harm Reduction So White?

1:45pm - 2pm

Closing 

5:30pm - 7:30pm

Building Power Across the Spectrum 2021 Welcome Reception*

7pm

When the Industries Collide — R.O.L.E. Models Fashion Show*

* — in-person event

Saturday, November 6th - Day 2

8am - 9am

Breakfast and Registration

9am - 10:15am

Breakfast Plenary - PEP Talk — the Future of PEP/PrEP in North Carolina

10:15am - 10:30am

Break

10:30am - 11:30am

Workshops

Hepatitis ABCs 

White Feminism & the State of Abortion Rights in NC 

11:30am - 11:45am

Break 

11:45am - 1pm

Lunch Plenary - Transforming HIV in North Carolina — Medicaid & the NC Ending the Epidemic Plan

1pm - 1:15pm

Break

1:15pm - 2:15pm

Workshops

Landlord and Tenants Rights in NC

Day in the Life of HIV+ Youth 

2:15pm - 3:15pm

Snack & Coffee Break (in-person attendees)

Virtual Yoga Break (virtual attendees)

3:15pm - 4:15pm

Workshops

AIDS Quilt — Art & Advocacy

Mental Health in the Time of COVID-19 

4:15pm - 4:30pm

Closing

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