[3] Between 1986 and 1990, Tavera joined the staff of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, where he was responsible for running the Client Services department.
[3] Hank Tavera was heavily influenced by the United Farm Workers grape boycott and the Chicano theater movement, both of which were foundational in his political and artistic values.
TWAATF was founded in 1985 in an effort to address the distinct ways men of color accessed AIDS prevention and treatment resources.
This included an understanding of "the historical reality of racial discrimination in gay institutions," venues that AIDS service organizations like SFAF mainly targeted.
Their mission was to "[assist] existing AIDS organizations with providing educational material that is relevant, culturally sensitive, and can be understood by our communities".
[2][10] Hank Tavera participated in the campaign against the passing of Assembly Bill 2319 in 1988, which ultimately aimed at the mandatory testing of prostitutes, prisoners or new born babies for HIV/AIDS.
Soy Tu Madre was a melodrama that brought attention to the inaccessibility of HIV and safe sex resources to both homosexual and heterosexual Latinos.