Community Advisory Board: Emerita Members

Michelle Anderson, formerly 2011 Ms. Plus America, is the only known HIV-positive woman to run in mainstream pageantry and win a national pageant title.

Gina Brown, RSW, is a community organizer with the Southern AIDS Coalition. She has worked in the field of HIV for 15 years and has been living with HIV for 23 years.

Ciarra Covin is an 11 year survivor of HIV. She has found great strength and healing in using her master’s degree in Human Services, coupled with raw life experiences, to advocate for those living with HIV.

Porchia Dees currently does HIV prevention work for the Black AIDS Institute in Los Angeles. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has impacted her life greatly and is a topic that is very near and dear to her heart.

Aryah Lester, nationally awarded author, as well as a speaker and educator, is a transgender woman of color from New York residing in Miami-Dade since 2005.

Arianna Lint is the executive director of Arianna's Center, a community-based organization that provides advocacy, education and training, case management, and linkage to care for trans men and women in Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Miami and Orlando, FL.

Vickie Lynn, Ph.D., MSW, MPH has been living with HIV since 1985 and has spent the past few decades advocating for and empowering women living with HIV.

Samantha Rose Montemayor Morales currently works as an on-site property manager for a homeless shelter currently serving the community of Los Angeles, California. She has been a community activist since 2017.

Abosede Olotu is an HIV advocate from Lagos, Nigeria. She was diagnosed with HIV in 2000 and is the proud mother of three beautiful, HIV-negative children.

Bridgette Picou (Red40something) is a nurse with several years of HIV and infectious disease experience, having worked at a combination ASO and federally qualified health center.