Samira Ali, PhD, MSW

Dr. Ali is a community-based activist-scholar. Her scholarship focuses on community-based participatory research (CBPR), primary and secondary HIV prevention, and the role of social determinants on the mental health and well-being of communities that are marginalized (particularly those impacted by HIV). Specifically, Dr. Ali has experience in developing, implementing, and evaluating community-led structural sexual health interventions in local and international settings. Dr. Ali has worked with community-based organizations for over 10 years around intersecting areas of HIV prevention and treatment, mental health, and trauma-informed care as well as coordinated care. Through the COMPASS Initiative, we can change the face of the HIV epidemic in the South through building organizational capacity that is community-centered, sustainable, and intersectional, paying particular attention to social and racial justice.