Mission Statement
Mission: The National Minority AIDS Council develops leadership in communities of color to address the challenges of HIV/AIDS.
Since 1987, NMAC has advanced its mission
through a variety of public policy education programs; national conferences;
treatment and research programs and trainings; electronic and printed resource
materials; and a website: www.nmac.org. NMAC represents a coalition of 3,000 F/CBOs
and AIDS service organizations (ASOs) delivering HIV/AIDS services in
communities of color nationwide. NMAC's advocacy efforts are funded through
private funders and donors only.
History of the Agency
Leaders of prominent minority AIDS organization
nationwide – including Paul Kawata, Gil Gerard, Calu Lester, Don Edwards, Timm
Offutt, Norm Nickens, Craig Harris, Carl Bean, Suki Ports, Marie St.-Cyr and
Sandra McDonald – started the National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC) in response
to the American Public Health Association (APHA) decision to not invite anyone
of color to participate on the panel of its first ever AIDS workshop, at its
1986 association meeting. Harris, an African-American gay man living with AIDS, announced
the formation of NMAC during that panel discussion after he rushed the stage,
shouting "I WILL BE HEARD" and taking the microphone away from Dr.
Merv Silverman, then the San Francisco Health Commissioner.
NMAC
then set about to building awareness around the impact of HIV in communities of
color. Its first order of business was meeting with US Surgeon General C. Everett Koop while he was
writing his historic report about AIDS. Originally scheduled for just 15
minutes, Koop, who had not known about the disproportionate impact of HIV/AIDS
among minorities, sat riveted by NMAC's representatives for nearly two and half
hours. The report would become the only publication, other than tax and
census forms, to be mailed to every person in the United States. The agency
incorporated in 1987, and soon launched its groundbreaking social marketing
campaign, Live Long Sugar, with Patti
LaBelle, which alerted people of color living with HIV/AIDS about the dangers
of the common HIV co-infection, Pneumocystis carnii pneumonia (PNP).
In
1989, NMAC partnered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s
(CDC) to help build the capacity of small faith- and community-based
organizations (F/CBOs) delivering HIV/AIDS services in communities of color.
This changed the mission of the agency from raising awareness of the impact of
HIV/AIDS among minorities, to building leadership within communities to address
the challenges of HIV/AIDS.
Today,
NMAC accomplishes this mission through a variety of public policy education
programs; national conferences; treatment and research programs and trainings;
electronic and printed resource materials; and a website: www.nmac.org. NMAC
represents a coalition of 3,000 F/CBOs and AIDS service organizations (ASOs)
delivering HIV/AIDS services in communities of color nationwide. NMAC's
advocacy efforts are funded through private funders and donors only.
