Call For Project Summaries

Call for Project Summaries:

Share Your COMPASS Story In Less Than 150 Words

We have an exciting opportunity for COMPASS Funded Partners to be included in a supplemental issue of the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved (JHCPU) to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the COMPASS 10-year initiative!

We invite COMPASS funded partners and colleagues to submit 150 word project summaries that share stories of the work supported by COMPASS. Please note that this call for project summaries is only open to COMPASS-funded partners.

The purpose of the supplemental issue is to highlight the impact, lessons learned, and community-based programs and interventions supported by the Gilead COMPASS Initiative®.

This supplemental issue will be open access, meaning that everyone will have access to it for free!

We seek project summaries that address HIV stigma, access to care, trauma-informed care and harm reduction approaches, substance use, advocacy, telehealth, organizational capacity-building, movement and coalition building, and faith-based initiatives based in the Southern United States (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, and TX).

All project summaries will be reviewed by a committee for fit with the supplemental issue and the journal. Published summaries will provide a way to exchange ideas and highlight best practices, grassroots programs and innovative ideas. The purpose is also to highlight the COMPASS Initiative’s grassroots Black and Latinx-led organizations in the U.S. South focused on addressing the HIV epidemic.

As you write your project summary, please keep the 10-year COMPASS goals and values in mind:

As you write your project summary, please keep the 10 Year COMPASS goals and values in mind:

• Improve access to and quality of health care services for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in the South
  Increase access to stigma-free care that incorporates wellness, mental health, trauma-informed care and substance use/harm reduction approaches, and is backed by a sustainable infrastructure to ensure longevity
• Increase local leadership and advocacy in the South
  Build a robust network of strong local leadership for advocacy focused on resource allocation and evidence-based policies to address HIV/AIDS in the Southern United States
• Change public perception of HIV/AIDS in the South
  Create strategic communication campaigns that resonate with residents in the South to counter fear-based stigma and educate local leaders to support policy changes that better support the needs of PLWHA

The four COMPASS Coordinating Centers, the Southern HIV Impact Fund (SHIF), GLAAD, and our evaluation partner ETR are committed to reflecting the shared values (linked below) through our implementation of this initiative and will favor project summaries  that reflect Meaningful Involvement of People Living with HIV/AIDS (MIPA); Intersectionality emphasizing Racial and Social Justice; Openness, Transparency and Learning; Collaboration and Commitment, and Holistic Approaches. More information and a detailed description of the COMPASS shared values, mission and vision can be found here. The Southern HIV Impact Fund has an additional value and commitment to address social injustices from an intersectional approach.

Submission Process

The deadline for submission of project summaries is January 15, 2023 at 10:59 PM CST / 11:59 PM EST.

All project summaries should be emailed to info@gileadcompass.com.

This submission process will be carried out in two steps.

First Step: 
Your organization will share a project summary.

Second Step:
A committee will review the project summary submissions for relevance and the journal will make final decisions about which project summaries will be included in the supplemental issue. We will make every effort to include as many project summaries as possible.

Description of Project Summaries

Project summaries must be:

• In English,
• Up to 150 words in length describing the following:

• The problem that you are working to address, who you are as an organization, the unique thing/project you did to address the problem, the outcome/success/impact.

• Have no more than three authors.

Additional Considerations

• Project summaries/articles can include co-authors from multiple organizations.

• Only three authors working on a project summary who provided support or information for the publication can be listed as a co-author (e.g., organization staff members, evaluators, consultants, COMPASS staff, students, volunteers, etc.).

•Authorship should prioritize the staff at the submitting community-based organization over others listed for co-authorship.

• For project summaries/articles that showcase specific interventions, the funding source (e.g., name of the grant and the entity from which it was received) for the project should be acknowledged.

• Ideas for project summaries can be generated by reviewing previously submitted program evaluation reports, organization features in news and magazine articles, previously submitted blogs, editorials, conference presentation project summaries, and other documents highlighting the importance of community-based work.

Criteria

These project summaries will be reviewed by representatives from the COMPASS Initiative. Project summaries will be scored on the following criteria:

• Relevance for underserved populations.
• Relevance to the topics suggested by the overview below.
• Clarity.
• Relevance to addressing HIV and AIDS in the US South.
• Relevance to the Gilead COMPASS Initiative.

Overview of Issue

The topics we hope to see addressed in submitted project summaries include the following:

• Program evaluation
• Lessons learned
• Best practices
• Faith-based initiatives to address HIV
• Capacity building of organizations to become sustainable
• Addressing HIV stigma
• Innovative use of technologies and interventions
• Adapting interventions for new places/populations
• Integrating trauma informed care practices into organizational structure
• Integrating harm reduction practices into organizational structure
• Addressing the intersections of:

• Mental health and HIV
• Substance use, harm reduction, and HIV
• Faith and HIV
• Reproductive Wellness and HIV

• HIV advocacy
• Developing and implementing HIV campaigns, communications strategies
• Principles of social justice in grant making
• Telehealth
• Meaningful involvement of People Living with HIV/AIDS (MIPHA)
• COVID-19 service adaptation and awareness
• Leveraging small grants to get larger funding opportunities to advance HIV care and prevention
• Best practices in language justice (accessibility, multilingual communication, etc.)
• Collaborations and partnerships to advance health and justice
• Policy and movement building
• Addressing Digital Insecurity in the South
• Digital strategies to combat stigma

Please note that the Gilead COMPASS Initiative recognizes the amount of work it takes to prepare project summaries and manuscripts to academic journals. To honor your time, we will work to highlight all manuscripts submitted on COMPASS communication channels (e.g., blog on website, social media, etc.) regardless of whether or not it was selected for journal publication.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the Gilead COMPASS Initiative®?
The Gilead COMPASS Initiative® (COMmitment to Partnership in Addressing HIV in Southern States) is a 10-year, $100+ million partnership with community-based organizations working to combat the HIV epidemic in the Southern United States.  This work happens through grantmaking and capacity building through the Coordinating Centers – Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Southern AIDS Coalition, University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work, and Wake Forest University School of Divinity; the Southern HIV Impact Fund; and Gilead direct giving.

What are the benefits of being published in the journal? 

• Sharing the outcomes of your organization’s programs, interventions, methods or practices will allow you to have influence on how a broader audience can better engage and implement effective policies, programs and interventions for HIV in the Southern US.
• Publishing in a journal is also a great means for you to continue to become known as a subject matter expert in your field as others are exposed to your work.
• Publishing can raise your profile among potential funders and build credibility for your work.
• Sharing your practices, methods and strategies can contribute to the body of knowledge and practices for the community and make your work more accessible.

This Supplemental Issue will be Open Access. What does Open Access mean?
Academic journal articles often cost money to access.  Individuals who are affiliated with an institution, such as a college or university, often have access to academic articles through their college or university library. However, this also means that most academic articles are not accessible to the general public.  Open Access articles are available for anyone to read and download without such associated costs.  The entire Special Issue on COMPASS will be made open access and available to the public for free.

How do I generate good ideas for writing a project summary?·

• Start with ideas and best practices identified in your current work that have made an impact in your community. Consider evaluation reports submitted to funders that highlighted exceptional service or accomplishments that you would like to feature.
• Organization annual reports may be a good source for generating ideas.
• Consider programs or topics you may have presented at past conferences, or topics that you have been asked to present on as an expert at meetings by special request.
• Has your organization been featured in news and magazine articles?  Have you submitted blogs, editorials, or white papers highlighting the importance of community-based work? Each of these can be good sources of material for a publication.

Can I partner with another organization on a project summary?
Yes.  You can partner with another organization, your funder, or anyone else that you think would like to support your work. If you decide to partner, make sure that everyone who works on your project summaries and publication is listed as a co-author so that everyone gets credit for their work.  

Additional information on authorship is included in the supplemental materials.  Be sure to list yourself (if you are the lead) as the first author, and others that support your work as co-authors.  Often, the order of listing authors is based on contribution to the work.

Will all project summaries submitted be accepted for publication?
Unfortunately, not all project summaries will be asked to submit a formal article for publication. COMPASS is looking into highlighting the submissions not accepted by the journal. More information to come.

Is there any assistance available for the process?
You may also review these sample project summaries for ideas on how to write an project summary.

• Sample Project Summary: Reports from the Field
• Sample Project Summary: Brief Communication

Are extensions to the submission date for project summaries possible?
No, unfortunately the timeline is very narrow for publication of this special issue so extensions will not be feasible

Who do I contact if I have any questions?
For more information about this opportunity, visit the Gilead COMPASS Website at www.gileadcompass.com to access a number of tools prepared to assist with this project, or email info@gileadcompass.com.