Positive Women’s Network – USA is a national membership body of women living with HIV and their allies that exists to strengthen the strategic power of all women living with HIV in the United States. Founded in 2008 by 28 diverse women leaders living with HIV, PWN-USA develops a leadership pipeline and policy agenda that applies a gender lens to the domestic HIV epidemic grounded in social justice and human rights.

Every day, Positive Women’s Network – USA inspires, informs, and mobilizes women living with HIV to advocate for changes that improve their lives and uphold their rights. In addition to federal advocacy, PWN-USA supports regional chapters to build leadership at a local and state level.

History

Positive Women’s Network (PWN) was founded by 28 diverse women leaders living with HIV in June 2008. PWN’s founding members are diverse in background and experiences –  rural, southern, and urban, of diverse races and ethnicities, and spanning a spectrum of ages, with the youngest 21 and the oldest 72 years old. 

Founding members included women born outside the U.S., monolingual Spanish speakers, and transgender women. Founding members’ common thread: they were all HIV-positive and had a deep desire to create a unified voice and build collective power for women living with HIV across the United States. 

Since their founding, PWN has established itself as Positive Women’s Network – USA, an independent entity, and continues to develop a leadership pipeline and policy agenda that applies a gender lens to the domestic epidemic grounded in social justice and human rights. PWN-USA’s focus on leadership development of women living with HIV has included trainings on advocacy skills, media and communications, and using a human rights framework for advocacy. PWN-USA’s policy agenda leads the nation in gender-sensitive HIV advocacy that comprehensively addresses the needs of women living with and vulnerable to HIV.