Minutes of the
CONSUMERS COMMITTEE
Chairs: Charmaine Graham, Marcelo Maia
Consumer-At-Large: Raffi Babakhanian
Monday, October 15, 2024, 2:00PM – 4:00PM
Minutes
Committee Members Present: Marcelo Maia Soares (Co-chair), Steven Wilcox (Co-chair), Raffi Babakhanian (Consumer-at-Large), Asia Betancourt, Randall Bruce, Paul Carr, Billy Fields, Lawrence Francis, Yves Gebhardt, John Goldenbridge, Charmaine Graham, Ralph Henderson, David Klotz, John Schoepp, Annette Tomlin, Rob Walker
Staff and Guests Present: Michael Navejas, Doienne Saab, Kimbirly Mack (Planning Council); Abraham Omeyoma (Guest)
Agenda Item 1: Welcome/Introductions/Moment of Silence/Minutes
Marcelo and Steven opened the meeting, followed by introductions and a moment of silence. The Committee welcomed Michael as new Deputy Director of the Council. The minutes of the September 23, 2024 meeting were approved with no changes.
Agenda Item 2: CAB Town Hall
The Committee had a lively discussion that addressed the goals of the Town Hall, consumer input on CAB experiences, invitees, its structure, and potential dates. David provided background to the discussion by highlighting work already done to get direct consumer input.
The Committee suggested goals/objectives for the CAB Town Hall which included:
- Gather consumer input that will convince agencies to support CABs as the best way for getting meaningful consumer feedback.
- Empower consumers by providing information.
- Demonstrate that there is widespread consumer support for creating and supporting CABs.
- Gather input from CAB members’ challenges and successes.
- Develop a “white paper” with asks from the RWPA program.
- Provide attendees with a road map to advocate for and improve CABS.
Committee members discussed the structure of the CAB Town Hall with some suggesting that it be held as a hybrid meeting with the option of it being held as a webinar, allowing for people to join from anywhere. Committee members stressed the importance of the in-person component of the Town Hall which would allow for networking.
Event specifics for the Town Hall included:
- Providing a context for the event (purpose, benefits of CABs)
- Presenting successful CABs (brief overview of the literature)
- Including a panel of successful CAB members (suggestions included Rosemary Lopez, Robert Steptoe from ACQC, and Lara Comstock from Callen Lorde). Hosts of the AVAC Podcast were also suggested
Suggestions for invitees to the Town Hall included clients from agencies receiving Ryan White funding. Committee members also suggested inviting individuals/staff from End the Epidemic (ETE).
Potential dates for the Town Hall included February and March of 2025.
Closing remarks from the Committee included that the Town Hall be an attractive event that provides food, transportation reimbursement, and that a sub-committee be formed to plan the Town Hall. Volunteers included Marcelo, Asia, Rob, Randall, Annette, and Raffi.
The next meeting of the Consumers Committee will be an in-person meeting from 1 to 3pm on Monday, November 18 (with a Zoom option), followed by a zoom meeting from 2 to 4pm on Monday, December 16th.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
