Danya’s Atlanta office managing director Janice Nall and senior director Erin Edgerton with Inside Story’s star Kevin Ndege Maboleo

Danya had the honor of partnering with Discovery Communications’ Global Education Partnership (DCGEP) and the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum to host a screening of the film Inside Story last night in Atlanta, Georgia.

DCGEP president and Inside Story executive producer Aric Noboa, CDC’s Director of the Center for Global Health Dr. Kevin DeCock, actor Kevin Ndege Maboleo, Danya CEO Dr. Jeff Hoffman, and Jimmy Carter Center Library and Museum director Dr. Jay Hakes

Last night’s attendees included public health professionals from CDC and other organizations, and also featured opening remarks from CDC’s Director of the Center for Global Health, Dr. Kevin DeCock.

Dr. Kevin DeCock discusses the history and current state of HIV and AIDS before the film begins

Inside Story follows the journey of Kalu (Kevin Ndege Maboleo), a talented soccer player from Kenya who moves to Johannesburg to play for a professional team and then learns he is HIV positive. The film tracks Kalu’s struggles on and off the soccer field, as well as inside his body, and culminates as Kalu triumphs over his struggles and realizes that knowledge is power in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

This groundbreaking film combines the best of fiction and non-fiction storytelling to unravel the mystery of HIV and will be shown to millions of African audiences with the goal of empowering them with the knowledge they need to make informed health decisions.

The screening was followed by a Q&A with DCGEP president and executive producer Aric Noboa, the film’s star, Dr. DeCock, and actor Kevin Ndege Maboleo.

The film was very well received and everyone had a great time!

Danya Atlanta staff having a great time at the screening

Photo credit: Robb D. Cohen  www.robbsphotos.com

Congratulations to everyone that participated in the Race!

(click image to enlarge)

Danya, as part of our contract to manage the CDC National Prevention Information Network (NPIN), is supporting federal agencies and organizations for National Women and Girls’ HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NWGHAAD) through Twitter. On February 16, 2012, NPIN hosted a Twitter chat with Luvvie Ajayi, co-founder of The Red Pump Project.  Luvvie shared keys to success for current and future bloggers. She also described the new goals established for the 4th annual Rock the Red Pump™ campaign, where they encourage their followers to use social media channels to show their support for NWGHAAD through photo-sharing, tweeting, and blogging. This year, their goal is to get 2,500 bloggers to join the effort to raise awareness about the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 50 days leading up to NWGHAAD. They are also asking women to #RocktheRedPump on Friday, March 9 and upload photos of their shoes to Red Pump’s Facebook page or tweet them a photo of the shoes.

Twitter support for NWGHAAD expanded! March 8, 2012, Dr. Hazel Dean, Deputy Director of National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP) was a guest tweeter on @CDCNPIN. She was joined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women’s Health. Twitter users had an opportunity to share and receive information about NWGHAAD resources.

Sherese Bleechington, Partnership and Outreach Coordinator, CDC NPIN

In addition, Danya recently hired Erin M. Edgerton as Senior Director, Health Marketing and Communications. Based in the Atlanta office, Ms. Edgerton will lead Danya’s focus on leveraging emerging technology for use in health communication campaigns and behavior change programs. She will work across Danya to develop comprehensive digital media strategies, advance the use of mobile technologies, build the foundation of research-based innovation, and manage the corporate social media strategy.

The winning submission (below) was entered by Saeed Khan, with a total of 288 votes. His entry was captioned, “Helping Flood Victims: Helping the Ones In Need — Providing Rations & Supplies To Flood Survivors.”

The second place entry (below) was submitted by Eunice Cacatian. Her photo was captioned, “Filariasis Campaign: These pictures were taken at Antipuluan Elementary in Narra, Palawan, Philippines during my work assignment at Narra Rural Health Unit. During the Information Campaign Drive, we shared some facts about Filariasis and how it can be prevented—afterwards they were given DEC tablets.”

Khan won an iPad 2 and Cacatian won an iPod touch.

Every entry showcased the dedicated volunteer work that the Global Health in Action fans perform, as well as the various plights they have witnessed around the world. The remaining entries can be viewed in the slideshow below.

Congratulations again to Saeed and Eunice!

Click to view slideshow.

As you begin to ponder New Year’s resolutions for 2012, think about what you can do to improve your health—get in shape, exercise, cut down on unhealthy foods or drinks, or quit harmful habits such as smoking. I realize that I need a new health strategy. Simply wanting to lose 10 pounds is not enough. Fred and I have had an ongoing bet that one of us could lose more weight than the other. After 5 years, we both lost about 50 pounds—and we both gained about 50 pounds—for a net loss of zero!

I’m trying to figure out my next goal, such as a 10K race or maybe a sprint triathlon. I’m a decent swimmer, love to bike, and can run a pretty good 5K. I may be slow for a competition, but I might give that a try. Nikki Lovell and Sarah Preston ran and finished the Marine Corps Marathon last month—that was inspiring! Stacy Dietzler in Atlanta is a regular marathon runner, and she told me about an interesting and helpful website called www.active.com, which provides information about all types of sports and competitive events.

There are also some events we could do together as a company, such as the Bright Beginnings 5K in DC in the spring and the AIDS Walk in Atlanta in the fall. We have had several participants in both of these events over the past few years, but we could step it up and present a larger Danya showing—what do you think? If you have health problems and can’t take on something as challenging as a long-distance run or a mountain climb, you might be able to work toward a walking goal or set your sights on another low-impact fitness routine.

Another great exercise is to dance—so I hope to see you all out on the dance floor at our high-energy Danya holiday parties coming up over the next couple of weeks! Give it some thought, but most importantly, just get out there and move!

Please share your ideas and suggestions in the comments. I wish you all the best with your families and friends during this holiday season.

Sincerely,

Jeff

Danya has been awarded the Corporate Social Responsibility Award by the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce (MCCC). The award, sponsored by Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Mid-Atlantic States, Inc., will be presented at MCCC’s annual Business Awards Dinner on October 26, 2011, at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center.

“Danya’s mission is devoted to services in the crucial health and education sectors,” said Trevor Garner, Administrative Vice President for M&T Bank and Chair of the 2011 Business Awards Dinner. “When we reviewed Danya’s impressive accomplishments, we knew it was a perfect fit for this particular award.”

According to the MCCC website, the award is “presented to an individual or company that has demonstrated exemplary business practices and dedicated involvement and unyielding commitment to community service and volunteer programs that enrich the lives of residents of Montgomery County.” Over the years, Danya has been deeply involved with volunteer work and support for Families Foremost Center, Hearts and Homes for Youth, and Bright Beginnings Child Development Center for Homeless Children, as well as several other local organizations and programs.

I think it is extremely important to do our part, as youth, to increase the global health of the world. I’ve been volunteering for the past 5 years with a great local group that supports sustainable development projects and friendship by exchanging visitors between my local community in Massachusetts and a local community in Kenya. We raise funds for our friends in Kenya and have done many great projects there. We have bought mattresses for a whole orphanage and also have developed a reliable source of clean water, a project that began before I started volunteering and ended in 2007. I continue to support my local group and do whatever I can to raise funds. This is my small part in increasing the global health of the world.

Butler won an iPad 2 and the runner-up, with 475 votes, Brittany Hayes, received a gift certificate.  Thank you to Butler and Hayes, as well as everyone else who submitted stories and voted!

Through health communications and social media, we are trying to influence people’s behavior to discontinue unhealthy behaviors and to adopt healthier behaviors. We are trying to prevent infections, addictions, and other disorders. Through T/TA, we are educating and assisting professionals to adopt best practices in prevention and treatment programs. Through M&E, we are helping programs to improve their performance so that they can better serve children and families, resulting in healthier outcomes.

When I founded Danya International 15 years ago, our first contract was a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project for $100,000 to develop an online drug and alcohol screening assessment that we called DAPA. Although we were not able to commercialize the product, we still maintain it online at www.dapaonline.com, and it is a model for online assessment (we were ahead of our time…). This past month, 15 years later, we were awarded the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Behavioral Health Services, Information, Referral, Public Engagement and Communications Platform contract for the next 5 years. This major national contract builds on our experience with SBIRs, National Prevention Information Network (NPIN), Clinical Preceptorship Program, and many of our other projects, and it will give us the opportunity to have a real social impact on reducing drug use and addiction, as well as promoting mental health education across the country. This contract will allow us to shape healthy futures in a major way.

Our latest venture in shaping healthy futures in East Africa, expanding on our work in HIV and other infection prevention, is in promoting food security through both communications and M&E. This work involves assisting farmers to improve their productivity and business capabilities to provide stable and healthy food resources for the people in their countries, as well as develop viable healthy economic futures for themselves and their families.

So, what does “shaping healthy futures” mean to you? I encourage you to share your thoughts, stories, and ideas there on the blog and to have an exchange of ideas.

Sincerely,

Jeff
Chief Executive Officer