Programs & Funds · Cultivate
Cultivate is AIDS United’s Training of Trainers (ToT) that equips people with HIV with leadership skills to engage meaningfully with their communities on local health planning and needs.
What is Cultivate
The Cultivate Program: Supporting People with HIV as Leaders in HIV Systems of Care is a Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) Training and Technical Assistance Cooperative Agreement. The Initiative aims to build and promote the leadership of people with HIV across the three levels of leadership development - individual, community, and system. This program uses a Training of Trainer (ToT) approach, which increases the leadership capacity, representation, and engagement of people with HIV in Ryan White (RWHAP) planning, development, implementation, evaluation, and clinical quality management activities. Additionally, it builds skills and supports knowledge transfer through peer-to-peer learning for people with HIV and supports the readiness of people with HIV to meaningfully engage in activities that impact HIV systems of care and operation.
Using a Training of Trainers model, Cultivate develops a replicable curriculum and a growing network of peer trainers who carry these skills back into Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program networks and local planning bodies across the country.
The Model
The Cultivate program will build and promote leadership of people with HIV across four pillars:
Foundational knowledge for all leaders.
Understanding leadership styles, building relationships, operating in professional settings, and using technology to enhance impact.
Community engagement focuses on developing partnerships, building coalitions, and navigating local policy decisions.
Gaining skills in data analysis, clinical quality management, and serving on advisory boards and planning bodies.
Our Goals
Cultivate program will build and promote leadership of people with HIV through four goals:
The Cultivate Training of Trainers (ToT) activities included:
Conducting 10 ToTs on leadership in Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program activities (in person and virtual) to 200 people with HIV.
Supporting ToT trainees in delivering training within their local communities, reaching an additional 2,000 community members and potential leaders.
Developing and sharing the curriculum and relevant tools.
Join the upcoming cohort and become a Cultivate trainer for your community. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.
Also upcoming: February 2–4, 2027 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, 9:00am–5:00pm daily. May 11–13, 2027, location to be announced, 9:00am–5:00pm daily.
Training materials and coaching support will be provided to ToT trainees to prepare them to deliver a local training after completing the ToT. AIDS United will enter into consulting agreements with ToT trainees. ToT trainees will be compensated for time and effort for ToT training time and completion of post-ToT training goals. The consulting agreement will outline the terms and conditions. Travel and hotel accommodation will be provided for out-of-town ToT trainees.
For additional information and/or inquiries about the Cultivate program, please contact our team at cultivate@aidsunited.org
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) provides financial support for this program, U6953209 in the amount of $800,000. The contents are those of the author. They may not reflect the policies of HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government.
Why peer-led leadership
“The people who have lived the epidemic are the ones best equipped to lead the response to it. Cultivate puts that belief into practice — one trainer, one community at a time.”
AIDS United · Cultivate Program
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