OUR COMMUNITY
CO-FOUNDERS
Welcome to our community! Building this website has been a great pleasure and a true labour of love. Meet the fabulous women behind Life and Love with HIV. From Left to Right: Margarite Sanchez, Sophie Patterson, Kath Webster, Valerie Nicholson, Allie Carter, and Kate Salters. Angela Kaida is not pictured.
Lillibobs Machin
England
I'm 31. I work in education and have done so for a number of years. I've traveled the world but I have returned back to my hometown. I am honest, down to earth but most of all, I work hard for everything and everyone in my life.
Jayne
Canada
This is Jayne's first writing job. She is a busy mother who loves to dance, act, and play with her dog. She has been HIV positive for 15 years and has been through up's and down's handling pregnancy, finding partners, and self-advocating for sex-positive health care information.
Sarah Feagan
Australia
Sarah Feagan is a queer women who has been living with HIV since 2008. She is the previous chair of Positive Women Victoria and has recently joined the team at Living Positive Victoria as a Peer Navigator. She also the Vice President of the National Association of People Living with HIV (NAPWHA). Sarah is a co-facilitator of Phoenix for Women and the Positive Leadership Development Institute (PLDi). Sarah has unique approach to her advocacy and is inspired by the lived experience of the body positive to inform her practice. Sarah's advocacy spans the from the grass roots all the way up to high level governance. She has a global outlook with a local focus to bringing the community along with her.
Tranisha Arzah
United States
Tranisha Arzah (she/they) is a black, queer, femme living with HIV since birth and based in Seattle, WA. She embodies the saying “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives” by Audre Lorde. She started her work in the HIV movement as a Peer Advocate for women living with HIV in 2013. Since then she has been recognized nationally for her accomplishments and hasn't even reached her potential.
Jerop Limo
Kenya
Growing up, I had a rough childhood and I never realized at that time all the family issues I was going through made me depressed and rebellious. At some point, I became so enclosed and a loner, even at home. I had a lot of questions and a lot of pain in me and I never knew how I would deal with it. Soon enough, in class behind my school books, I found myself just writing what I felt at that particular time and somehow it made me feel better and that's how I found closure - in emptying myself on paper.
Jaydee
Nigeria
My name is Jaydee. I'm a lawyer by training and a development worker by choice. I also farm between reading and working full-time. I have been living with HIV for about 18 years. I counsel and mentor young people and I'm drawn to helping the widows and orphans. I am a single mom of many children.
Juno Roche
Spain / UK
Juno Roche is a 'Patron of cliniQ', a 'Trustee of the Sophia Forum' and has a long history of structuring campaigns around Transgender Equality in Education, Sexual Healthcare and HIV. Juno has lived with HIV for over 25 years. Her work has been described as innovative, her writing as brave and challenging. Juno writes for a wide range of publications: Gay Times, Refinery 29, The i, Vice, Broadly, and i-D, to mention a few. Her first book is titled Queer Sex.
Marama
New Zealand
Marama has been living with HIV for 25 years. Sexuality, philosophies, psychology, and the impact of HIV on women's lives has always been an interest of hers. Marama has seen her sense of self, sexuality, and being change so much due to living with the virus. She is a Mother of three, Human Rights Activist, and Global HIV Advocate, who fights for the down trodden and Indigenous Rights. She is fluent in English and her native language of Māori.
Just Stash
Kenya
I believe we all need a few seconds of insane courage and embarrassing bravery; something good will come of it.
Just Stash is a young woman very passionate about HIV and sexual and reproductive health. She has had the privilege to be involved and empowered to address issues that concerns health and HIV among young people. Sometime 2016, she and her friends came together and started a blog where they addressed issues they felt affected their peers and were not being addressed by anyone. She is an advocacy champion to ending stigma among people living with HIV.
Gina Dos Santos
South Africa
Gina Dos Santos is a lover of life and mother of three. She has been living positively with HIV for 15 years. Gina is a Marine Deck Officer by profession and an HIV activist. She is currently completing a degree in Psychology. A bold feminist and passionate about life, helping others be the best version of themselves is what drives her everyday.
Marnina Miller
United States
Marnina Miller is a Human Rights Activist residing in Houston, Texas. This out and proud Black Queer, young woman living with HIV facilitates training's on Anti-Stigmatizing Language, Effective Leadership, Sex Positivity, and Community Organizing. At Positive Women’s Network-USA she is a Public Policy Fellow, and a member of the communications team. Marnina is a Youth Ambassador for Youth Across Borders, the Co-Chair for the Texans Living With HIV Network, and a 2017 recipient of the LGBTQ Violet Awards.
Wynne ST
Canada
Wynne ST has spent all of her HIV life invested in learning how to help herself and others live without fear and shame, with all the joy and sorrow it has entailed. She has a Joint degree in Kinesiology and Fine Arts, Dance, spending thirty years as a professional Graham trained modern dancer across Canada and the U.S. Her greatest joys have been shared with her daughters, granddaughter, sisters and empowered women. For Wynne, gratitude is an action word.
- Alexieindia Abrams
- Allyson Mitchell
- Alex McClelland
- Christina Carta
- Denise Becker
- Jessica Whitbread
- Karen Fratti
- Kelly Gluckman
- Mariana Iacono
- Mark S. King
- Miquel Caballero
- Muluba habanyama
- Nade'ge
- Rae Lewis-Thorton
- Rob Easton/CATIE
- Silvia Petretti
- Tana Pradia
- The Well Project
- Vicki Tallis / ICW
Our resident researchers are experts on the science of HIV and sexual health. They provide the facts and stats we need to further our cause. Want to contribute as a resident researcher? Fill out this form and we'll be in touch about collaborating.
Dr. Angela Kaida
Canada
Angela Kaida is a global health epidemiologist, Canada Research Chair, and Associate Professor at Simon Fraser University, whose global research program centres on a rights-based, evidence-informed, and community-driven approach to sexual and reproductive health among women living with and affected by HIV. She is a Principal Investigator of several prospective cohort studies in South Africa, Uganda, and Canada, including UARTO, AYAZAZI, CHIWOS, and WATCH.
Dr. Kate Salters
Canada
Kate Salters is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Epidemiology and Population Health program at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS. She received her PhD in Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University in the summer of 2017. Her research focuses on investigating and preventing HPV-related cancers among women living with HIV. Kate is passionate about global health as well as sexual and reproductive health.
Dr. Sophie Patterson
United Kingdom
Sophie Patterson received her PhD in Health Sciences from Simon Fraser University. She is currently working as a Specialty Registrar in Public Health in the North West of England. She has substantial experience conducting community-based research on the gendered impacts women face in the legal obligation to disclose their HIV status.
Lashanda Skerritt
Canada
Lashanda completed her Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry at the University of Ottawa and is pursuing her MD/PhD at McGill University. Her doctoral work combines her interests in health inequities, social and structural determinants of health, and reproductive care in the context of chronic disease. Lashanda’s research focuses on inequities in reproductive care and counselling for women living with HIV.
Becky Gormley
Canada
Becky is the provincial coordinator for two community-engaged studies, CHIWOS and WATCH, both of which are broadly focused on the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women living with HIV. She loves working with, and learning from women in her community and is thrilled to continue working in reproductive justice with the Life and Love HIV Team.
Florence Anam
Kenya
Florence Anam is an advocacy and communications expert, previously at the International Community of Women Living with HIV. She has years of community engagement and international advocacy on issues including sexual health, reproductive rights, equality and social justice, and expanded economic and education access for women and girls living with HIV.
Marvelous Muchenje
Canada
Diagnosed with HIV in 1995, I continue to participate passionately in the HIV movement, being a voice of the voiceless. My greatest joys in life are advocating for women’s sexual and reproductive health rights, talking about sex, and helping women empower themselves.
Dr. Allie Carter
Australia
Dr. Allie Carter is a Research Fellow in Sexual Health at the Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney. Her work focused on the social, cultural, and political issues related to sexual health, particularly for communities that are less well-represented in research. She is involved with studies in Australia, Canada, and the United States and writes regularly for a variety of news outlets. She received her M.P.H. and Ph.D. at Simon Fraser University in Canada.
PARTNERS
We are grateful to the following partners for supporting this project. Special thanks to our founding partners, Simon Fraser University, ViVA Women, and the International Committee of Women Living with HIV. Want to become an official partner? Fill out this form and we'll be in touch about collaborating.
FUNDERS
On behalf of our team and the communities we serve, we extend our sincerest thanks to our funders for their generous support. If you enjoy what we do, please consider making a (tax-deductable) donation here or contact us for sponsorship opportunities.
