About Us
Our History
In 2002, as part of our national community mobilization work, we recognized that the growing Latino communities in the South frequently had no access to healthcare, were not being adequately reached through traditional health/ prevention awareness programs, and faced numerous language barriers as many health service agencies lacked Spanish-speaking or culturally conversant employees. In 2006 we met with the Ford Foundation to discuss the urgent need to support our vision to develop a regional Latino initiative in the southern region of the United States. In the summer of 2007, the Latino Commission on AIDS launched its strategic program initiative: Latinos in the Deep South. Latinos in the Deep South worked in seven states: North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi. Since 2012, the Latinos in the Deep South program has been housed in North Carolina. In 2019, Latinos in the Deep South becomes Latinos in the South adding Texas and Florida to target states. That same year, Latinos in the South convened it's first Encuentro, a yearly, Southern gathering of multi-racial Latinx LGBTQ community and allies to end the HIV epidemic.
2019 Convened the first annual Encuentro in Atlanta, GA
2012 Established the North Carolina office of Latinos in the Deep South
2007 Launching of the Latinos in the Deep South Program
2006Meeting with Ford Foundation
2002Recognizing Challenges of Latinos in the Deep South
Our People
Jessie Claudio
Community Building Manager based in Memphis, Tennessee
Jessie is an activist, educator, and public health professional with over 5 years of experience providing sexual health education and training. Throughout his career, he has run city-wide HIV testing and condom distribution, school-level sexual health education, LGBTQ peer support networks, served as an LGBTQ+ Latinx Community Ambassador, and non-profit capacity-building programs. For the last 3 years, he has served as a regional HIV testing trainer, certifying many diverse professionals to provide high-quality counseling, testing, and linkage-to-care services.
Aleida Fernández
NC Community Organizer based in Charlotte, NC
Aleida has over 14 years of experience working as a Ryan White medical case manager, outreach, HIV prevention, and education prioritizing the Latinx community, LGBTQ+, immigrants, and individuals living with HIV as their lives are impacted by it. Prior to joining the Latino Commission on AIDS, Aleida worked for Carolinas Care Partnership, Novant Health, and Rain, Inc in Charlotte, NC.
Maggie Blunk
Communications and Advocacy Manager based in Durham, North Carolina
Maggie Blunk (any/all) is from Chapel Hill, NC, and currently resides in Durham, NC. After earning a degree in Political Science from Appalachian State University, Maggie was a Park Fellow at UNC’s School of Media and Journalism, where they studied marketing. Their experience spans both grassroots organizing and policy advocacy, having worked with Down Home NC and the UNC System Office of Federal Relations. Before joining the Latino Commission on AIDS, Maggie served as the Communications Manager at the NC AIDS Action Network. In addition to their advocacy work, they are an artist, focusing on graphic design and screen printing.
Daniela Cerón
Policy & Communications Associate based in Durham, NC
Daniela Cerón recently earned her Master’s in Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a concentration in Community, Management, and Policy practice. She is passionate about fostering community partnerships to promote equitable outcomes for marginalized communities. As someone who grew up in Rural Hall, NC she is also committed to working with rural communities across North Carolina.
Before joining Latinos in the South, Daniela worked with the Latino Migration Project to partner with local governments to create inclusive practices and policies for immigrants and refugees. She has also worked with people experiencing homelessness and spent some time in Alamance County working in early childhood education.
Daniela holds a Bachelor’s degree from Elon University in Strategic Communications and Religious Studies. In her free time, she enjoys gaming, gardening, and painting with watercolors.
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Edric Figueroa
Director of Latine LGBTQ+ Initiatives based in Atlanta, Georgia
Edric Figueroa (they/he) is a queer, first-generation Peruvian-American with over a decade of community-based and non-profit experience working to End the HIV epidemic and correlating disparities. Edric currently works to undo homophobia and transphobia on a national level through the Latino Commission on AIDS. Before joining the Commission, Edric served as the first ACT NOW: END AIDS Coalition Coordinator. They also spent just under six years supporting LGBTQ survivors of violence, families, and youth in Seattle as a Program Manager for the Northwest Network of Bisexual, Trans, Lesbian, & Gay Survivors of Abuse before relocating home to Atlanta in 2019.
Edric stays connected to the Latine community in Atlanta by serving as a board member for Latino LinQ, an organization focused on HIV prevention for metro-Atlana’s Latine community. In 2021, the anthology *Between Certain Death and a Possible Future: Queer Writing on Growing up with the AIDS Crisis* published his essay, “Leftover Lovers,” and in 2022, POZ magazine honored him among their “100” HIV activists making a difference nationwide
Judith Montenegro
Program Director based in Chapel Hill, NC
Judith Montenegro joined the Latino Commission on AIDS and their Latinos in the South program in 2013 as their Director of Community Organizing and in 2016, she became the Program Director. As a Mexican immigrant living in North Carolina, Judith is passionate about working with immigrant populations focusing on immigration reform, and improving health care access for Latine communities.
She has served on the boards of directors of the American Heart Association, Durham Central Park, Alianza Americas, and El Centro Hispano. She is currently a board member of El Vinculo Hispano and serves on numerous advisory committees. Before joining the Latino Commission on AIDS, Judith was a paralegal focused on medical case management and workers' compensation claims.