March 2020 Shero of the Month: Kari Perry

Our March 2020 Shero of the Month is Kari Hartel Perry of Littleton, Colorado. Kari has been a mainstay of HIV advocacy in Colorado for many years, as a founding member and former co-chair of PWN Colorado and a leader in the successful movement to repeal the state’s discriminatory HIV criminalization statutes (accomplished in 2016). “Kari is the ultimate advocate! She organizes people before meetings to ensure they are able to attend, feel involved and have input about the agenda items.  She always speaks truth to power and supports other advocates to do the same. She makes it all look so effortless and we know it takes so much work and dedication. She is a triple threat: ruthless mind for policy, a compassionate heart, and an absolute belief in meaningful involvement,” said Barb Cardell, PWN training director.

Kari and Barb co-founded PWN Colorado ten years ago. “In a state with great geographical distance, it has often been difficult for women living with HIV to connect,” explained Kari. “PWN Colorado has worked hard to try and close that geographic distance by increasing capacity to connect digitally, fundraising for in-person opportunities to connect, and trying to create pockets of membership across the state.”

PWN Colorado officially launched in March 2010 around National Women and Girls HIV Awareness Day with a stigma-fighting T-shirt campaign that continues to this day. PWN Colorado members and allies make, sell, and wear pink T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan, “If I were HIV+…I would still be me. Let’s talk.” (This year, the slogan has been updated to “If I were living with HIV.”) “I have been participating in this awareness campaign for many years,” said Kari. “It has been a great opportunity to start conversations with neighbors, friends, and even strangers about HIV. I have also loved the great sense of community for women living with HIV and allies as we tout our pink shirts to raise awareness. Creating that community level support has helped to combat stigma all on its own.”  

One of the chapter’s biggest achievements was repealing two of the state’s HIV criminalization statutes and significantly reforming a third in 2016. It was a four-year effort that entailed extensive coalition-building and advocacy with lawmakers. “Persistence, organization, community partnership building, and good strategy were all integral to our success,” Kari said. “Making sure we have key partners who could help legislatively and ensuring that people living with HIV as well as those most impacted by the laws (people involved in sex work, communities of color, youth, etc.) were meaningfully involved was truly the key to a successful modernization effort. It was important to us from the beginning that no one was left behind in our effort. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a labor of love!”

PWN Colorado is now working to reverse funding cuts to the HIV prevention program of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). “The last six months have been very challenging in Colorado,” explained Kari. “We spent many years developing a successful partnership with CDPHE. One bad leader has demolished a lot of that work. The current funding cuts to HIV prevention have certainly increased risk to all communities!  If we’re unsuccessful in finding a way to restore some amount of funding to programs, it will increase risks for young men who have sex with men, people who use drugs, and women (especially African American and Latina women)! We’re still working hard, even during this unprecedented pandemic, to restore cuts. Failure is not an option, because our communities will become even more marginalized if we fail. Despite lots of frustration, I am still hopeful we will make it happen (because PWN CO moves mountains)!”With over 16 years of fierce advocacy under her belt, Kari has much to be proud of–and a lot of great memories. “I have met some of the most amazing people, especially my PWN sisters across the U.S.,” she said. “We are fierce and are taking our power, taking our seats, and demanding change. That is always so inspiring. The memories I cherish most have always been the times I get to spend building relationships with my sisters, like attending the PWN-USA summits, coordinating the Staying Positive StoryCenter workshops that centered around women living with HIV, and developing lifelong relationships with the members of PWN Colorado. I am also very thankful to have been able to coordinate the largest community group in Colorado for women living with HIV and another for youth living with HIV. I hope that all the people I have met, talked to, and developed relationships with, know that when things get tough and I want to quit…it’s them that make me smile and keep me going!  It all of you that fuel me, teach me, feed my soul, and fill my heart!  I feel truly blessed to be a part of this community in Colorado and nationwide.”

She is thankful for the opportunities she has had, including participating in AIDSWatch, PWN’s Speak Up Summits, HIV Is Not A Crime Training Academies, PWN’s National Day of Action to End Violence Against Women Living with HIV, SisterLove’s 2020 Leading Women’s Society, the PWN Colorado Grassroots Organizing Initiative, and PWN’s electoral organizing pilot in 2018. “[PWN’s former organizing director] Waheedah [Shabazz-El] once told me, don’t forget to eat your cake. I’ve made sure to savor all the moments and I am so thankful for the support of my amazing husband and family!”