East Bay Getting to Zero welcomes ZJ Eskman (he/they) as our new Communications & Partnerships Manager! We are excited for ZJ’s energy, expertise and vision to lead us into the future.
Here is a message from ZJ:
Letter to the East Bay Getting to Zero Community
Dear East Bay Getting to Zero Community,
My name is ZJ and I am honored to be joining the EBGTZ team as the new Communications and Partnerships Manager. I am most excited to work alongside our East Bay community to fight against HIV stigma and work together to end the HIV epidemic.
A little about myself, I was born in the Philippines and relocated to Northern California as a teenager. Growing up as a queer person of color and adolescent immigrant, I often felt like I didn’t belong. When I moved to San Francisco for college, I found a place I could finally call home and jumped into community engagement work.
I started my public health journey as an HIV counselor volunteer at Asian & Pacific Wellness Center (now San Francisco Community Health Center) with their HEROs program (Health Education, Recruitment & Outreach). I then became their Program Manager of HIV Services and worked on digital stories, marketing materials, and events for LGBTQ+ communities, specifically transgender and gender non-conforming folxs. I am passionate about creating these safe spaces for individuals to truly feel like they belong, so that they can continue to share their stories and inspire others.
Public health has become personal for me, for because of it I am more introspective and empathetic as a person. Because of public health, I have seen how resilient we are and how we continue to find strength from each other. To me, public health will always be rooted in social justice.
I am thrilled to assist us in moving our East Bay HIV Strategic Plan forward. I welcome conversations around how we can collaborate to better serve our communities here in the East Bay. You can contact me at zj@ebgtz.org. I look forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely,
ZJ Eskman