Relocating for Change

Relocating for change: Stephaun Clipper and MPowerment at MOCHA
September 2nd, 2008
by SJordan

Stephaun Clipper, an Atlanta, Ga.-based activist, has relocated to Rochester to head up the MPowerment Project at the Men of Color Health Awareness (MOCHA) Project’s Rochester office.

Stephaun Clipper Wallace has an extensive background in community activism and mobilization, public health, and youth advocacy. He has completed well over 10 years of service to youth empowerment, community activism and organizational psychology. He started his journey to community work while in California, his native state, where he was employed as a U.S. Army Senior Paralegal Administrator, stationed in several bases, including an overseas tour in Germany.

Stephaun served as the Public Relations Officer to the California Student Associations’ Black Caucus during his initial years in college, and also served as the first Black student to have served as a member of the College’s Board of Trustees.

Currently, he serves on several boards of organizations, both locally and nationally. He has been a leader in the House/Ballroom community for more than six years and helped found the Legendary House of Elite. He also served as a member of the Metro Atlanta HIV Services Planning Council (Ryan White) and a member of the Human Rights Campaign Atlanta Diversity Committee.

Stephaun is a proud father-figure and mentor of 14 youth locally and nationally. He is currently completing a degree in Criminal Justice, and will begin a double Master’s program next year, specializing in Public Health and Public Administration.

In his current capacity with MOCHA, Inc., Stephaun will manage and coordinate an HIV Prevention Program utilizing the research from two very distinct behavioral based interventions: Many Men, Many Voices and MPowerment. Both of these interventions are aimed at reducing HIV infection rates, increasing health awareness and knowledge and providing support to the programs’ participants, young men of color who have sex with men, more commonly referred to as the gay, bisexual and transgender communities of color. Stephaun also provides technical and capacity building assistance to local and national organizations, in order to help move the public health agenda for communities of color forward.

The MPowerment Project’s drop-in center is for gay, bisexual, and transgender youth and young adults of color ages 13-29, and is open Tuesday through Friday from 1 p.m. until 9 p.m.

For more information, contact Stephaun Clipper or MOCHA, Inc. at (585) 420-1400 ext. 14, (585) 420-1409- fax, www.mochaproject.org
or sclipper@mochaproject.org.