The International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) welcomes Julia Powell, a UK-based communications professional, to lead its global communication and campaign strategies. Communications will play a central part in helping ITPC achieve its ambitious goals, which were recently set out in its new strategic plan. ITPC’s three central goals are to:

• Create and increase demand for optimal access to treatment;
• Influence and hold decision makers to account;
• Push for the inclusion of HIV in a broader social justice movement.

Alongside, other projects Julia will support the UNITAID-funded, ITPC-led consortium to help make HIV treatment more affordable in middle-income countries. She will also provide support and training to help strengthen communications and advocacy capacity among ITPC’s networks and community organizations.
“At ITPC, we do a great job highlighting threats to HIV treatment and advocating for the right to treatment, but we felt the time had come to hire a team member dedicated to strategic communications and advocacy,” explains Director of Global Programs, Solange Baptiste. “Julia brings a depth of expertise and a wide range of experience to enable ITPC to strengthen its voice in the global health space.”
Julia has extensive communications and campaigns experience in the international development sector. As a senior manager and consultant, she has worked for international organizations such as Fairtrade International, International HIV/AIDS Alliance and UNICEF. She coordinated the HIV/AIDS campaign for UNICEF UK and led the communications team at the Fairtrade Foundation, playing a central role in the early years of the Fairtrade movement in the UK. Julia has two Masters, the most recent being an MSc in Communications for Innovation and Development from the University of Reading.
“I am very excited to be working here! ITPC has a strong and authentic voice as a global network of treatment activists grounded in human rights approach to health,” says Julia. “I am keen to get ITPC’s unique message and voice heard amongst wider audiences of people who could support us.”
About ITPC:
ITPC is a global coalition of HIV treatment activists formed in 2003 to respond to the needs of communities worldwide. Structured in eight regions, the global network is driven by individual activists, peer support groups, grassroots networks, community-based organizations, and non-governmental organizations. Each of these entities share our values and vision and come together to address issues around access to treatment issues in their countries, regions and at the global level. The Coalition includes organizations and networks run by key populations – lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (LGBTI), sex workers and people who use drugs – as well as others marginalized within the current HIV response, such as women, girls and migrants. As a Coalition rooted in the Global South, ITPC established its global office in Botswana in early 2015.