Race Equity Action Plan

In 2020, AFC partnered with national consultancy Morten Group LLC to begin the process of creating a racial equity plan. First, Morten Group created a racial equity assessment that was distributed to AFC’s staff and board in November of that year. Participation in the survey was optional, but 195 people submitted responses.

The report identified several opportunities and needs, including increasing transparency in decision-making and compensation; embedding racial equity principles into AFC’s hiring process; creating more leadership opportunities for Black, Latinx and other staff of color; further diversifying the board of directors; providing equitable pay for direct service staff; and holding partners and funders accountable to racial equity work.

In January of 2021, AFC began the work of drafting a plan that reflected staff and board members’ feedback. First, AFC leadership invited staff from various departments and job levels to form a small group who’d work on drafting the plan. These staff members, which included people living with HIV, Black women, Latinx staff and other staff of color, met with their individual teams throughout 2021 to provide updates, collect feedback and collaborate with leadership to write the first draft of the plan.

Once, the group produced a first draft, it was shared with all of AFC’s staff. Staff were able to provide feedback anonymously, verbally in affinity groups and department meetings and through written comments. The group who drafted the plan read and responded to each piece of feedback and did their best to incorporate as much as possible into the final draft.

After months of reflection, feedback and edits, AFC released the plan and an accompanying glossary in 2022 on National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

A 2022 full-year update was provided through AFC’s Annual Report in 2023.