On October 15, 2025, the Shelby County Health Department hosted its Second Annual HIV Summit, gathering leaders, clinicians, and service workers from across the Memphis metro area. The convening came at a critical moment. Across the country – and especially in Shelby County – HIV service organizations are navigating the tightening grip of funding reductions, shifting federal priorities, and an evolving health-care landscape. Yet the energy in that room was anything but defeated. Memphis continues to remind us that transformation begins not in moments of abundance, but in the shared resolve to do more with less – and to do it differently.
As someone who has been in this work for nearly a decade, I am convinced that our greatest innovations will come from those who haven’t been told something can’t be done yet. During the Summit, a refrain echoed through multiple panels: “Make room for different voices, especially the next generation.” Younger professionals, many of them Black and queer, are bringing bold ideas to our models of care, digital outreach, and mutual-aid sensibilities that re-center community ownership. Senior leaders must not only mentor them but also move aside when needed, creating pathways for these bold thinkers to lead. As one Memphis advocate put it, “If you’re not willing to hand over the mic, don’t say you’re building equity.”
The urgency is clear. Shelby County continues to rank among the nation’s highest for HIV diagnoses, with roughly 7,351 people currently living with HIV and hundreds of new diagnoses each year, disproportionately affecting Black gay and same gender loving men, Black women, and transgender people. The county’s HIV care continuum reflects both progress and need: approximately 79.4% of diagnosed individuals are linked to care, but only about 67% achieve viral suppression. These figures mirror the inequities we see across the South, where HIV is no longer a matter of medical alone, but a structural one tied to poverty, stigma, and political and social will.
Sector Transformation, AIDS United’s relaunched initiative designed to help organizations reimagine business models beyond “business as usual,” is about grounding strategy in our common reality. At the Summit, folks set aside jargon and asked hard questions: How do we keep doors open? How do we share staff, data systems, and infrastructure? How do we collaborate rather than compete? These conversations are not glamorous, but they are vital. Piloting ideas like sharing back-office services, establishing regional resource hubs, and engaging joint grant applications will be necessary to ensure our communities can flourish despite these manufactured droughts. It can happen – one partnership at a time.
Memphis has long been a crucible for American transformation. The same streets where sanitation workers marched for their human dignity and where the Rev. Dr. King, Jr, gave his final speech now host a new generation fighting for health equity. AIDS United’s commitment to this work is rooted in that lineage. We believe HIV care is rights-based work: fighting for the right to health, to safety, and to self-determination. The Shelby County HIV Summit showed that Memphis is not waiting for change; it is leading the charge. All eyes should be on Memphis – not just to witness resilience, but to follow its example.
About Sector Transformation Portfolio Initiative: AIDS United’s Sector Transformation Portfolio (STP) Initiative serves as a trusted partner and convener for HIV leaders driving bold, community-centered change in the face of shrinking funding and growing political attacks. The initiative equips HIV service organizations with the strategic support, resources, and technical assistance needed to adapt and thrive in an evolving health care environment.
Through tailored consultation, a comprehensive resource library, online learning opportunities, and convenings that bring leaders together, Sector Transformation empowers organizations to make informed decisions that strengthen their sustainability and deepen their impact.
To learn more about the Sector Transformation Portfolio (STP) Initiative, visit ausectortransformation.com.