Crystal Townsend Email & Phone Number

Positive Women's Network USA is the leading advocacy and leadership building organization for all women living with HIV. We fight so that our communities can live a liberated life free from all forms of stigma and discrimination. Follow us and our work at 🌐www.pwn-usa.orgTwitter: @uspwnFB: @pwnusaIG: @positivewomensnetworkusa

Houston, Texas Area

CT Health Solutions offers freelance services for healthcare companies and nonprofit organizations specializing in community engagement, project management, and business development.We serve as a liaison between organizations and the communities they wish to help. We value understanding the needs of the communities we serve, especially the most vulnerable or underserved and utilize strong working partnerships with clinicians, Federally Qualified Health Clinics (FQHCs), and other community based organizations to achieve a shared goal of building healthier communities.Our outcomes-driven consulting services also include the counseling, testing, and education of people living with or at-risk of HIV/HCV/STIs and other illnesses; connecting systems to efficiently provide a broad range of health services; and, developing public awareness campaigns to reach our goals.

Houston, Texas, United States

END HIV Houston (END) is the first grassroots, community-led campaign in the United States focused on ending the HIV epidemic through racial and social justice in Houston/Harris County, TX. In 2016, community leaders from areas of health care, reproductive justice, research, policy, and the criminal-legal system convened to examine the drivers of Houston’s longstanding HIV epidemic using an intersectional perspective. The group concluded that social and racial injustices are at the root of the city’s epidemic. As a result, a plan titled "The Roadmap to Ending the HIV Epidemic in Houston" was developed and the END HIV Houston campaign was launched on the steps of city hall.As the coordinator of END HIV Houston, it is a privilege to work alongside other community advocates and leaders to address key drivers of the HIV epidemic in Houston/Harris County. Many of which include access to health care, homophobia, transphobia, HIV stigma, racism, and a lack of urgency from institutions responding to communities most impacted.I am responsible for organizing the activities and yearly objectives identified by the coalition. A major component of this work is communications. Through communications, I find ways to engage the community and build power within the coalition. On a day to day basis, I oversee the communications, digital strategy, social media, grant and report writing, and all other project management activities of the coalition.

Houston, Texas Area

The Roadmap to Ending the HIV Epidemic in Houston, or The END HIV Campaign, is the first plan to end the HIV epidemic in Texas. Developed by leaders in HIV services, this plan provides recommendations for health care providers and policymakers to decrease new cases of HIV from roughly 1,200 per year to 600 in five years.~ Developed social determinants of health project in response to Houston/Harris County’s “Roadmap to Ending the HIV Epidemic in Houston”, the first plan to end the HIV epidemic in Texas by focusing on the areas of (1) Prevention, (2) Access to Care, (3) Social Determinants of Health, (4) Criminal Justice, and (5) Policy.~ Developed education content for interprofessional team; trained team to educate diverse audiences working or interacting with people living with a chronic disease.~ Strategized with community leaders to address stigma, social exclusion, and discrimination against people living with HIV (PLHIV) by utilizing preferred language as the standard in addressing HIV.~ Created and organized plan to implement, monitor, control, and close the project with the goal of designing an educational healthcare training model.~ Developed project budget and scheduled trainings with healthcare organizations and community groups. ~ Performed communications, stakeholder engagement, and trainings with community leaders.

Houston, Texas Area

Established strong working partnerships with clinicians, FQHCs, and other community based organizations throughout Texas to coordinate community health outreach and education initiatives on behalf of CHI St. Luke’s Health—an eight-hospital market within the Texas division of Catholic Health Initiatives, one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit health systems.Key achievement: Successfully reached milestones of the hepatitis C health screening program within the first six months earning the hospital approximately $1 million.~ Fostered and maintained open and trusting relationships with sponsors, boards, executive leadership, medical staff, associates, volunteers and community partners.~ Managed all fiscal, training, and analysis of the Liver Health Outreach program, a healthcare program that provides hepatitis C screenings to over 50 community health centers, clinics, and community based organizations across Texas.~ Provided training, education, and support to internal and external partners including physicians, and staff of community clinics and community based organizations on HCV disease awareness and counseling & testing protocols.~ Maintained a planned perspective balanced by situational awareness in leading a range of implementation strategies for the healthcare system. ~ Provided leadership in the development, promotion, application and measurement of a full continuum of health initiatives that enhance community health through high-quality, cost-effective care.~ Created market opportunities in response to the community health needs assessment and community health benefit plan to promote healthy community initiatives and assure compliance with federal and state reporting requirements. ~ Collaborated with Marketing and Communications to achieve a focused, branded approach in the delivery of disease awareness and treatment education activities.

Houston, Texas Area

Oversaw the daily management of AFH’s prison initiatives – programs that educate incarcerated men and women about HIV/HCV/STIs and provide linkage to medical care along with other health services upon release.Key achievement: Expanded the linkage to care program in the Huntsville and Dallas areas by eliciting the involvement, support, and cooperation of key stakeholders in targeted groups.~ Secured additional funding for prison programs totaling to $289,000 within eight months of working with the initiatives.~ Established and maintained partnerships with corrections, public health and community based agencies to address the continuity of care for HIV+ incarcerated and recently released individuals.~ Represented the organization in various leadership roles, locally and nationally, as a member of the City of Houston HIV Community Planning Group and as the Community Co-Chair of the nationally recognized Black Treatment Advocates Network on topics such as HIV science and treatment literacy as well as incarceration.~ Managed systems necessary for the identification, evaluation, monitoring, reduction and/or elimination of professional and general liability risk exposures.~ Facilitated continuing education for leadership team, management, and employees to identify, plan, and implement programs, policies, and practices which integrate ethics within operations and organizational culture.~ Maintained quality control standards by implementing tools that enforced program policies and ensured deadlines and administrative needs were met in a timely manner; as a result, auditors reported zero findings in final review.

Houston, Texas Area

Responsible for HIV/syphilis testing which includes experience in phlebotomy, rapid testing, and counseling. As a result, in 2010, the testing program was able to increase its testing goal by 200% and link new positives into medical care.~ Provided education about HIV science and treatment, resources for people living with HIV/STIs, and prevention tools in large and small settings.~ Developed protocols for and contributed to large scale community testing initiatives such as the T.R.U.T.H. Project, Focus on Youth, and HIP HOP for HIV or Houston H.I.T.S. which educated and tested over 50,000 Houstonians.~ Partnered with the local health department, Federally Qualified Healthcare Centers (FQHCs), Addiction/Methadone Clinics, and large healthcare practices delivering primary care to provide counseling, testing, and referral services.~ Represented the organization nationally at conferences to discuss HIV science, treatment, and research. ~ Mobilized and educated the community on public health topics mainly targeted towards sexual health, including providing screening and testing for sexually transmitted infections such as HIV and syphilis.~ Linked clients into clinical treatment and medical homes for health-related issues such as HIV and HCV by collaborating with health centers and other key community partners.~ Provided case management to individuals living with HIV, HCV, and other health diseases and document encounters using databases such as Access, Excel, and ARIES.

Md Anderson Cancer Center

In collaboration with the University of Texas School of Public Health, Cancer Prevention Research Training Program, and the M.D. Anderson Center for Research on Minority Health, students are allowed to gain knowledge and experience working in clinical studies. Through outreach efforts, invaluable connections were established with religious groups and gatekeepers to elicit community support and sustain relationships for future partnerships. Final findings and lessons learned were presented to a panel of advisory committee members and principal investigators.~ Researched scholarly literature for grant proposals and manuscript development~ Identified various social networks, community venues, and key peer leaders in community outreach and recruitment~ Completed over 500 units of data entry, data collection and analysis to understand breast and lung cancer risks in two months time~ Elicited community support to develop and sustain relationships for future trials and program maintenance~ Created presentation to document, assess, and address community findings and client needs to influence recruitment/retention~ Committed to providing the highest level of overall satisfaction to colleagues and consumers