Here’s what people often say to me, “ You are so warm and engaging. When you speak, people listen”. What I do best is to breathe life into programs and organizations deemed as struggling. I make it my business to know the community I conduct research with and I find novel ways to connect with them. Not because it’s the latest technique but because all communities change and evolve over time. What matters first and foremost is establishing trust; trust between my Community Engagement and Recruitment Staff, between them and the trial participants and my faith in the organization I represent.It is that trust that enabled me to encourage skeptical potential participants to join an HIV research trial. By writing and producing a video “Where does all that blood go”? tracing a vial from draw to cold storage or disposal, I was able to keep the trial going. That video is used in six African countries. It was that same level of trust that turned a stalled outreach and recruitment program into a successful one with a 150% increase in enrollees and a model for 3 subsequent trials.I see myself as a servant leader in the truest sense of the word. Without the commitment and determination of my staff I could not achieve the results I have. Nothing brings me more satisfaction than when it all works- the staff is excited, participants are hopeful and engaged, the hard-won funding dollars bring results and we are making a difference in peoples’ lives.