2012 Schedule - Final

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Check out our 2012 Program Committee

Saturday, March 31

ISIS is hosting our first ever hack-a-thon, together with our partners TechSoup Global. A hack-a-thon is a live event bringing together developers, designers, innovators and entrepreneurs to build exciting new apps and tools, in this case to improve young people’s health and wellness. This short and focused event – 1 day only – will result in the rapid development of concepts and prototypes that will be developed further by the participating teams with ISIS and TechSoup as future product development and distribution partners.

Sunday, April 1

  • Registration/Poster viewing  3:00p - 4:00p


  • Opening Plenary  4:00p - 5:00p

  • The Psychology of Social: Exploring the Psychological and Behavioral Connections to Social Media

We know that everyone’s online. We know you have a Facebook account, Twitter profile and LinkedIn page. But did you ever stop to think, “Why?” Jason Rivera from the AMP Agency reveals new research about the lure of social media – the psychology behind our pull to be social 24/7 in the digital world. Over the last few months, AMP Agency has surveyed millennials (20 and 30-somethings) about their reasons behind their social media habits. Layer that with three professional psychologists’ views from across the country, and some on-stage millennial opinions, and that’s what you’ll be hearing. After the presentation, Jason will engage in conversation with a journalist who writes regularly about teens and youth culture, as well as three diverse young adults. We’re hoping you will use the conversation about the Psychology of Social to launch your experience at ISIS’ Sex::Tech 2012.

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  • Keynote  5:00p - 5:30p

  • Deb Levine, ISIS Executive Director and Founder

Introductory remarks by Miles Orkin, ISIS Board President

  • Break  5:30p - 5:50p
  • Breakout  5:50p - 6:50p
  • The Life of a Teen Online: A Social Network Analysis of Facebook Profiles
  • 101 Ways to Use Technology for Sex Education
  • Multi-Channel Communication: Phone, Chat and Text Helplines
  • The Power of Two: Engaging Same-Sex Couples
  • Latino Youth in Action (LYIA) members at the Hispanic AIDS Forum in NYC designed a project to critically reflect on their online social worlds. Using Sentinel Visualizer, a link-analysis and data-visualization software application used to find connections, relationships, and patterns within sets of data (www.fmsasg.com), LYIA members were able to uncover perspectives on cyber-bullying, sexual harassment, social pressures and cultural norms online. With visual representations of their networks, LYIA members will showcase the social norms they’ve discovered, how they influence decision-making about personal profiles, and their relationship to health consequences for youth.

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  • Hispanic AIDS Forum
  • Michael Diaz
  • Naeelisha Arias
  • Bryan Cortes
  • Manuel Cubilete
  • Chris Figueroa
  • Anderson Payano
  • Mitchel Rios
  • Isaiah Varela
  • Center for HIV Educational Studies & Training (CHEST) at Hunter College, CUNY
  • Ana Ventuneac
  • Co-authors:
  • Hispanic AIDS Forum
  • Jesus Garcia
  • Felix Jimenez
  • Angel Melendez
  • Nelson Torres
  • Ximena P. Morgan
  • Heriberto Sanchez Soto

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  • Did you check your Facebook page this morning or check into SEXtech on Foursquare? Did you Tweet about your trip to San Francisco or post a photo to your Tumblr page? Chances are most of the youth here did! This interactive workshop will teach participants how to select and use new media platforms for health promotion. Participants will explore which new media platforms are good matches for their target audience and objectives, see examples of successful engagement strategies, and learn about free resources. Participants are expected to come to the session with a basic knowledge of social media. This workshop is presented by a partnership of a group of Curbing HIV/AIDS Transmission grantees across the United States.

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  • Ernesto Dominguez
  • Cascade AIDS Project (CHATpdx)
  • Melanie Lawrence
  • No AIDS Task Force (CHAT ncsd)
  • Brenna Anderson, PhD
  • Indigenous Peoples Task Force (Native CHAT)
  • The two programs showcased on this panel are evidence that youth use multiple communications channels - sometimes simultaneously. Hear from the National Dating Abuse Helpline and the Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties (PPOSBC) Hotline about their experiences providing accurate information direct-to-youth across media platforms.

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  • Moderator:
    Kathleen Ragsdale, Ph.D.
  • Mississippi State University

  • Evelyn Gonzalez Figueroa
  • Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernadino Counties
  • Luisa Carranza
  • Hotlines Team Leader

  • Brian Pinero
  • National Dating Abuse Helpline
  • Most programs use an individualized approach to sexual health promotion and disease prevention, even though research shows that the majority of HIV infections among young MSM occur in the context of a serious relationship. Check out this work with YMSM couples – both projects showcase vibrant, healthy relationships as keys to success.

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  • Moderator:
    Jason Asselin
  • Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men’s Health Centre

Monday, April 2

  • Breakfast (provided)/Poster viewing  7:00a - 8:30a
  • Breakout  8:30a - 10:00a
  • The Cutting Edge of STD Testing, Treatment and Partner Notification
  • Digital Mobilization and Movement Building
  • Two-Way Text Messaging
  • Online Social Networks for Study Recruitment, Outreach and Content
  • Find out what's new in the STD testing world. If you're wondering when you can and can't use a text message or when the Web can facilitate clinical services, this is the session for you.

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  • Moderator:
    Jeff Klausner, MD, MPH
  • UCLA / ISIS Board Member

  • Washington, DC Dept of Health
  • Yasir Shah
  • co-authors
  • Michael Kharfen
  • Kim Seechuk (CDC)
  • Bruce Furness (CDC)
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  • From grassroots actions to taking down billboards to digital storytelling to blogging for Girls' HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, these are the folks who know how to use the Internet to inspire real life action.

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  • Moderator:
    Rocio L. Córdoba, J.D.
  • Program Officer, Ford Foundation
  • Text messaging seems a natural outgrowth of phone hotlines for youth with private questions and concerns. Hear insights and results from three programs' experiences, and learn how they handle the challenges of staffing, costs, privacy and policy with their two-way text messaging programs.

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  • Moderator:
    Bhupendra Sheoran, MD MHA
  • ISIS, Inc.

  • Dr. William Evans
  • University of Nevada, Reno


  • Jessica Fitts Willoughby
  • University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
  • The TechSexUSA White Paper interviewees said that online social networks are good at some times for some types of learning, while at other times, they just "cause too much drama." Researchers and program staff describe the pros and cons of social networks such as Facebook for study recruitment, collaboration and content development.

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  • Moderator:
    H. Fisher Raymond, DrPH, MPH
  • San Francisco Department of Public Health



  • Arai Buendia
  • ISIS, Inc.
  • Break (snacks provided)  10:00a - 10:15a
  • Breakout  10:15a - 11:15a
  • Virtual Reality and Transmedia Games: Outside the Box
  • Social and Mobile Media Planning: From A to Z
  • Countering Sexualization: Supporting Sexual Expression
  • Digital Promotion of Long-Acting Contraception to Young Adults
  • There’s more than one way to learn. These two interactive projects showcase highlight the context of youth risk-taking using virtual reality and transmedia gaming.

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  • Moderator:
    H. Robin Boyar
  • Founder, thinktank research & strategy

  • Rhode Island Hospital/ Brown Medical School
  • Wendy Hadley, Ph.D.
  • Co-authors:
  • Christopher Houck, Ph.D.
  • Larry K Brown, MD
  • Josh Spitalnick, Ph.D.
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  • The Section of Family Planning at the University of Chicago
  • Stephen Lynn
  • Melissa Gilliam (co-author)
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  • Hear from the experts at ISIS and AIDS.gov about how to create a successful, replicable social or mobile media program. Have your questions answered about budgeting, program implementation and measuring impact.

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  • Natalie Zensius
  • ISIS, Inc.
  • What is sexualization? What is its impact on young people and their sexualities, including the impact on queer youth and boys? How can we tell the difference between sexualization and a young person's own expression of their own sexuality? How can we, as youth advocates, address sexualization soundly, in ways that help young people develop critical thinking about media and presentations of youth and a healthy sexuality of their own without assigning them motives where there are none, or stepping on their own, authentic expressions of their sexualities? Join Heather Corinna, founder of Scarleteen and Renee Randazzo of Spark in conversation to counter sexualization in the U.S.

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  • Heather Corinna
  • Scarleteen
  • Long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) use is commonplace in Europe - its effectiveness hovers near 100%. Usage rates are much lower in the U.S., especially among young, sexually active women. Hear about two innovative campaigns - one mobile video and one multimedia - to introduce LARCs to a U.S. audience.

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  • Moderator:
    Larry Swiader
  • National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy

  • University of South Florida, College of Public Health
  • Eric Buhi
  • co-authors
  • Kristin Harsch
  • Adejoke Ogunrinde
  • Natalie Rella
  • Hannah Helmy
  • Cheryl Pravetz
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  • Break  11:15a - 11:30a
  • Breakout  11:30a - 12:30p
  • 21st Century Sex Ed In and Out of the Classroom
  • xoxosms: Authentic Relationships and Online Identities
  • Go Where the Youth Are: Campus Partnerships
  • Power of the Screen for Homeless Youth
  • Bringing sex ed into the 21st Century requires in and out-of-classroom approaches, community/school partnerships and the integration of technology. Learn how text messaging, social media and web Q&A work to facilitate a seamless flow of information in and out of the classroom. Hear from two large urban collaborations about how they make it work.

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  • Moderator:
    Jesus Verazco
  • Alameda County Public Health Department

  • Tiffany Pryor
  • Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health
  • How do we navigate online identities and relationships? Can you really “know” someone you’ve never met? Is it safe to form relationships online? Enjoy a film screening of “xoxosms”, a new short documentary by Nancy Schwartzman that follows two star-crossed lovers in the digital age. Following the screening, we’ll discuss the idea of “digital intimacy”, and the authentic and healthy relationships to be found and nurtured online.

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  • Nancy Schwartzman
  • Filmmaker and The Line Campaign
  • Cory Silverberg
  • Sexuality.About.com and ISIS Board Member
  • Heather Corinna
  • Scarleteen
  • Hear about a program for youth integrated into a popular commercial website, myYearbook, and another into a campus health ed program.

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  • Moderator:
    Erica Lorraine Scheidt
  • author, ISIS Board Member

  • Student Sexuality Information Service at Brandeis University
  • Samantha Grosser
  • Jayne Greenberg
  • Darrell Byrd

  • Anastasia Goodstein
  • Inspire USA Foundation
  • Resource-poor and marginalized, homeless youth are as tech-savvy as their peers. In this panel, formative research data will confirm this fact, and a program using Photovoice with homeless youth will be described.

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  • Moderator:
    Desmond Miller
  • Larkin Street Youth Services

  • University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
  • Eric Rice
  • Anamika Barman-Adhikari
  • David-Preston Dent
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  • San Francisco State University, Department of Health Education
  • Luis Gutierrez-Mock (& Center of Excellence for Transgender Health/University of California San Francisco)
  • Kathryn Albergate
  • co-authors
  • Chadwick Campbell (& SFSU Center for Research on Gender and Sexuality)
  • Cynthia Flock
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  • Lunch (on your own)  12:30p - 2:00p

  • Check out San Francisco’s Finest Food Trucks for a Mobile Lunch!
  • Plenary Session  2:00p - 3:30p

  • Youth, Tech and Sex: No Harm, No Foul

This general session is sure to be a lively conversation with Dr. Marty Klein, Ann Collier and Nicole Ozer, moderated by Deb Levine. We plan to cover the cultural stereotypes of youth sexuality, the impact of the social Web on youth, and Internet safety. Conversation will revolve around changing norms from negative stereotypes of young people’s sexuality and behavior to the power of digital media to safely shape our youth into sexually mature, responsible adults.

Dr. Marty Klein has spent his 31-year career telling the truth about sexuality, helping people feel sexually adequate & powerful, and supporting the healthy sexual expression and exploration of women and men of all ages. Marty pursues his goal of a sexually enlightened world through therapy, lectures, writing, lobbying, media, and forensic work. He is the author of more than six books and 100 articles, including the recent "America's War On Sex: The Attack on Law, Lust, & Liberty." www.martyklein.com
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Ann Collier, MA is the Editor of NetFamilyNews.org and founder and executive director of its parent organization, Net Family News, Inc. With Larry Magid, she co-directs ConnectSafely.org, a Web-based interactive forum and information site for teens, parents, educators, and everybody interested in the impact of the social Web on youth and vice versa. In 2009-'10, Anne served as co-chair of President Obama's Online Safety & Technology Working Group, which in June 2010 delivered its report to Congress, "Youth Safety on a Living Internet." Anne currently serves on Facebook's Safety Advisory Board.
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Nicole Ozer, JD is the Technology and Civil Liberties Policy Director at the ACLU of Northern California, working on the intersection of new technology, privacy, and free speech. Nicole graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College, studied comparative civil rights history at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and earned her J.D. with a Certificate in Law and Technology from Berkeley Law. Before joining the ACLU, Nicole was an associate at Morrison & Foerster LLP and worked on diverse civil liberties technology projects with the Samuelson Law, Technology, and Public Policy Clinic. Nicole was recognized by San Jose Magazine in 2001 for being one of 20 "Women Making a Mark" in Silicon Valley.
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    • Break (snacks provided)/Poster presentations  3:30p - 4:15p

    • Nob Hill Room
    • Using geographic information systems (GIS) to understand the spatial relationships between risk, stigma and HIV infection among MSM
    • Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health
    • Adam S. Vaughan
    • Dr. Patrick S. Sullivan (co-author)
    • Eli S. Rosenberg (co-author)
    • Sexuality education training using a skills-based module for health professionals
    • Desiree R. Daniega
    • Mapua Institute of Technology-Health Services Department, Manila, Philippines
    • Rate of cell phone number change among Internet-using self-reported HIV negative MSM
    • Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University
    • Alexandra V. Ricca
    • Nicole Luisi (co-author)
    • Dr. Patrick S. Sullivan (co-author)
    • A systematic review of SMS-based health behavior change interventions
    • RTI International
    • Jennifer C. Gard
    • Robert D. Furberg (co-author)
    • Optimistic bias for safe sex among YMSM seeking partners online
    • University of Michigan School of Public Health, Sexuality and Health Lab (SexLab)
    • Andrew M. Hickok, MPH ATC
    • Jose A. Bauermeister (co-author)
    • University of Michigan School of Information
    • Chrysta Meadowbrook (co-author)
    • Tiffany Veinot (co-author)
    • HIV/AIDS Resource Center
    • Jimena Loveluck (co-author)
    • USAID’s Interagency Youth Working Group: A social media campaign
    • Kathleen Plourde
    • FHI 360
    • Pervasive racism in the online gay male world
    • William Brown III, DrPH, MA
    • HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies - Columbia University
    • Cybercartography of transactional sex websites
    • Rachael Strecher
    • University of Michigan, Sexuality & Health Lab (SexLab)
    • Breakout  4:15p - 5:45p
    • Collaborative Strategies for Success
    • LGBTQ Connect
    • One Size Doesn't Fit All: Reaching Youth of Color
    • Mobile Optimized Websites
    • Partnerships work. These three organizations show how collaborating with an eye to partners' strengths make for better programs, learning and impact.

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    • Moderator:
      Catherine Lopez
    • California Department of Public Health

    • Stephanie Craig Rushing, PhD MPH
    • Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board
    • There is unprecedented potential for reducing the isolation LGBTQ youth feel using social and mobile media. Leaders present their work from gayteens.about.com, The Trevor Project and the Impact Program at Northwestern University.

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    • Moderator:
      Erin Wilson
    • San Francisco Department of Public Health
    • Market research on youth and new technology is based on a national representative sample, with a slim minority of youth of color opinions and needs noted. Hear about the different needs of urban youth around sex education using digital media.

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    • Moderator:
      Tiffany Pryor
    • Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health


    • Lauren Tullis
    • Vista Community Clinic

    • National Council of Negro Women
    • Joell D. Royal
    • Tamara Henry
    • According to ISIS’ TechSex USA white paper, a large majority of youth, and perhaps most importantly, urban youth of color, are using their "dumb" phones to access the web. Hear from three leaders in mobile optimization - Sex, Etc., DramaDownunder and the HIV Vaccine Trials Network.

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    • Moderator:
      Nikki Serapio
    • Advocates for Youth

    Tuesday, April 3

    • Breakfast (provided)  7:00a - 8:30a
    • Poster presentations  7:45a - 8:30a

    • Nob Hill Room
    • A qualitative approach to understanding partner referrals among MSM
    • Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University
    • Johanna Chapin
    • Dr. Patrick Sullivan (co-author)
    • Dr. Rob Stephenson (co-author)
    • Likeliness of using a smartphone-based app for accessing sexual health information among YMSM
    • Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University
    • Alexandra V. Ricca
    • Dr. Patrick S. Sullivan (co-author)
    • Challenges in recruiting rural MSM for online studies
    • Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University
    • R. Craig Sineath
    • Dr. Patrick S. Sullivan (co-author)
    • Creating comprehensive, youth centered, sex education for YMSM
    • Laura Thomas
    • University of Michigan, Sexuality & Health Lab (SexLab)
    • Evaluation of web-based resources for HIV+ youth
    • University of Texas School of Public Health
    • Widumini Liyanage
    • Co-authors:
    • Ross Shegog, PhD
    • Christine M. Markham, PhD
    • Amy Leonard, MPH
    • Thanh Bui, MD MPH
    • Mary Paul, MD
    • Utilizing publicly available online resources for African-American teens
    • Laura Whiteley, M.D.
    • Brown University/ Lifespan/Rhode Island Hospital
    • Developing an online tool to assess delay discounting in MSM
    • Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University
    • Jeb Jones
    • Dr. Patrick S. Sullivan (co-author)
    • MSM, HIV home testing, & SMS reporting
    • William Brown III
    • HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies - Columbia University
    • Breakout  8:30a - 10:00a
    • Youth-to-Youth, Direct
    • Groundbreaking Clinical Trials and Evaluation for SMS and Social Media
    • International Perspectives from Great Britain and Singapore
    • Mobile Hookups: The Young Men Who Use Grindr
    • Community engagement is key to any successful prevention program. And when the community is youth and the program is digital - what fun you can have! Learn from four social media projects for youth of color and LGBTQ youth.

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    • Moderator:
      Janelle Watson
    • Planned Parenthood Los Angeles

    • The National Institute for Reproductive Health and NARAL Pro-Choice New York
    • Faye Zemel
    • Tara Sweeney
    • Download the presentation
    • Hear from the Australian researchers who conducted the first clinical trial of SMS prevention messages at the Burnet Institute; the ISIS team who conducted a revolutionary program evaluation using SMS; and the effects of a social media campaign on intent to improve personal health.

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    • Moderator:
      Raymond Perry, MD, MSHS
    • UCLA/ RWJF Clinical Scholars Program

    • Nina Turner
    • Metro Wellness and Community Centers, St. Petersburg, Florida


    • Bhupendra Sheoran
    • ISIS, Inc.
    • The world is large. Come learn how England's National Health Service and other progressive organizations in England and Singapore leverage the power of new media in STI prevention and sexual and reproductive health overseas.

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    • Moderator:
      Jessica Mack, MTS
    • RH Reality Check
    • Grindr represents a new frontier in digital dating and sex-partner-seeking. It is a geo-locating, social networking, smart phone application popular among young men who have sex with men (YMSM). Three researchers look at the YMSM who use the service.

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    • Moderator:
      James Loduca
    • San Francisco AIDS Foundation
    • Break  10:00a - 10:10a
    • Breakout 10:10a - 11:40a
    • Theory-Based Digital Programs
    • Social Media Communications Strategy: A Conversation
    • Meeting the Needs of YMSM Online
    • Clicktivism: Turning Page Views Into Social Action
    • New media campaigns have struggled deciding which theories of change to apply. Adaptations of existing theoretical models - Sabido, IMB, and Goffman's concept of stigma - are exemplified on this panel showcasing successful programs for youth.

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    • Moderator:
      Susannah Allison
    • National Institute of Mental Health


    • Meredith Mishel
    • Kaiser Family Foundation
    • Three known leaders in social media communication discuss their strategies, in conversation with ISIS' Director of Marketing and Communications, Natalie Zensius.

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    • Moderator:
      Natalie Zensius
    • ISIS, Inc.

    • Elizabeth Toledo
    • Camino PR
    • Veronica Bayetti
    • National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
    • Jennifer Bass
    • The Kinsey Institute
    • This is a panel not to miss. Online Mpowerment for young Black MSM, structural interventions for hookup websites; and the potential of using sexually explicit material in prevention will all be explored.

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    • Moderator:
      Jose Bauermeister, MPH PhD
    • University of Michigan School of Public Health
    • Clicktivism. Arm chair activism. Slacktivism. You've heard all the disparaging terms for online activism but what's the real deal with turning page views into real life social justice victories? This panel will delve deeply into how social media allows users to disrupt culture and re-create it -- and how this process is changing how we change the world. We will unpack the strategies used by change.org campaigns, SPARK, and Hollaback! to create a bold new toolkit for how you can improve your advocacy and better engage your community in creating the change you seek.

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    • Moderator:
      Cory Silverberg
    • ISIS Board Member / About.Sexuality.com

    • Shelby Knox
    • Change.org
    • Jamia Wilson
    • Feminist Media Activist
    • Emily May
    • Hollaback!
    • Break (snacks provided)  11:40a - 12:00p
    • Closing Plenary  12:00p - 1:00p

    • Funders Roundtable: An Insider’s View  1:00p - 2:00p

    • California Gold

    Listen in on a conversation among funders moderated by Funders Concerned about AIDS about how and why foundations are supporting community and technology projects, and their thoughts about measurement and success. Note: This is a non-solicitation environment.

    • Moderator:
      Sarah Hamilton
    • Funders Concerned about AIDS

    • Panelists:
    • Susannah Allison
    • National Institute of Mental Health
    • Holly Bartling
    • General Services Foundation
    • Miguel Bustos
    • Levi Strauss Foundation
    • Alexandra Caraballo
    • Kaiser Permanente Community Benefit
    • Rocio Cordoba
    • Ford Foundation
    • Sara Piot
    • MTV Staying Alive
    • Delia Reid
    • Metta Fund