The Racial Equity Collaborative for Drug User Health

The Collaborative

Racial Equity Collaborative for Drug User Health (The Collaborative) is a pilot program developed by NASTAD. The program intends to create a supportive space for fifteen cross-career stage and cross-sector Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC)* navigating the landscape of governmental, nonprofit, research, and philanthropic fields that support the health of people who use drugs. This cohort is supported by Reframe Health and Justice and Healing Equity United. 

The Collaborative was created to support BIPOC harm reductionists around the United States, who have historically lacked sufficient institutional resources to hold leadership positions in health departments, community-based organizations, and everywhere in between. Diversity is often encouraged; however, BIPOC individuals have had to navigate predominantly white-led and at times institutionally harmful spaces with limited to no support.  

*The term BIPOC was developed to prioritize Black and Indigenous people when responding to the harms that all people targeted by structural racism face. It is imperfect in both its description and its politics. This space is intended for all people who experience racialized oppression as well as indigenous people who do not identify as a person of color. 

NASTAD is a leading non-partisan non-profit association that represents public health officials who administer HIV and hepatitis programs in the U.S. NASTAD's singular mission is to end the intersecting epidemics of HIV, viral hepatitis, and related conditions by strengthening governmental public health through advocacy, capacity building, and social justice. NASTAD commits to promoting and advancing racial justice and equity through all of our work. The Collaborative reflects this process and our core beliefs on the Drug User Health Team. Our beliefs drive our priorities of strengthening public health systems, implementing integrated approaches, advancing health and racial equity, and strengthening organizational excellence.

Application Status:

Applications for the 2021 cohort are currently closed. Please check back for more information about future cohort applications. Email DrugUserHealthTA@nastad.org if you have any questions.