Isabel Rosa

I currently organize for issues that directly impact people who have been living in poverty, been disenfranchised, or are in situations where there are stigmas. I started in the early 90s at age 17 working in the HIV-AIDS community. At that time, HIV and AIDS was a horrific disease with tremendous stigma and judgment, and most importantly, there were no laws or policies that protected the community. I was very involved in advocating and organizing behind bills that were passed here in New York State. What inspired me was that I was going to a non-traditional high school that exposed me to public speaking and identifying my talents and skills. I came across a flyer looking for peer educators to do outreach work for a community-based organization called ABC, Action for a Better Community. At the time, I had a brother who was living with AIDS. He passed away in 1996, and that just made me a stronger advocate and gave me more passion to continue the work. I was in this organization for about 28 years doing community work, most of it in the HIV community. After 22 years of doing HIV work, I stepped into the gun violence and young people community, doing outreach, community engagement, and risk reduction. I worked for a New York State program called Snug for about 5 years, working directly with young people who were at high risk in violent situations or gang situations. After COVID hit, I took a break and left the organization. I couldn't sit still for too long, so within 6 months I was right back in the community working. Within 2 years, I was at an organization called the Children's Agenda that really concentrates on organizing and fighting to change policies and systems that directly impact children who live in poverty. I've been doing mobilizing, community work, direct action, and advocacy, fighting against our targets so we can remedy what's going on in the community, particularly with our children.