NMAC, formerly known as the National Minority AIDS Council, is a nonprofit organization that works for health equity and racial justice to end the HIV epidemic in America.
Leaders of prominent minority AIDS organization nationwide – including Paul Kawata, Calu Lester, Don Edwards, Timm Offutt, Norm Nickens, Craig Harris, Carl Bean, Gilberto Gerald, Suki Ports, Marie St.-Cyr and Sandra McDonald – started the National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC) in response to the American Public Health Association (APHA) decision to not invite anyone of color to participate on the panel of its first-ever AIDS workshop during the association's 1986 meeting.
Harris, an African-American gay man living with AIDS, announced the formation of NMAC during that panel discussion after he rushed the stage while shouting, "I will be heard," and took the microphone away from Dr. Merv Silverman, then the San Francisco Health Commissioner.
Originally scheduled for just 15 minutes, Koop, who had not known about the disproportionate impact of HIV/AIDS among minorities, sat riveted by NMAC's representatives for nearly two and a half hours.
In 1989, NMAC partnered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help build the capacity of small faith- and community-based organizations (F/CBOs) delivering HIV/AIDS services in communities of color.
This changed the mission of the agency from raising awareness of the impact of HIV/AIDS among minorities, to building leadership within communities to address the challenges of HIV/AIDS.
This coalition, founded in February 2007, includes NMAC, the Asian American Justice Center, the NAACP, National Council of La Raza, the United Church of Christ, and several other organizations.
The coalition members work together to develop and promote HIV/AIDS public policies that respond to the needs of communities of color in the local, state and national arenas.
Launched in 2001 by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the NHVREI raises awareness among the U.S. public about HIV vaccine research.