EDERICK JOHNSON ACCEPTS POSITION AT YALE UNIVERSITY

        Ederick Enrico Johnson has accepted the position of Interventionist Facilitator with Yale University School of Nursing.  He will be based out of Fort Lauderdale with a considerable amount of travel.

The Interventionist Facilitator is responsible for delivering the CRISP (Culturally Responsive Intersectional Stigma Prevention) intervention component of large multisite randomized clinical trials sponsored by the Health Prevention Trial Network and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. It is a multi-component intervention that will be delivered in healthcare facilities across cities in the southern United States region. The CRISP intervention is a package of training, skills building, technical assistance, and quality improvement activities for healthcare organizations to improve the healthcare experience for Black MSM – Men who sleep with men.

Johnson’s duties also include facilitating conversations in healthcare facilities on topics that include anti-Black racism, sexual stigma, gender nonconformity stigma, HIV stigma, sociocultural assets of Black men who have sex with men, culturally responsive and accountable health care climates for Black men who have sex with men, and structural competency in HIV prevention and treatment services.

Johnson facilitates a MSM (Men who sleep with Men) Advisory Group where he serves as a Government co-chair. Earlier this year, representatives from Yale School of Nursing attended one of his sessions. “They sat in and observed what I was doing and after the meeting, we talked and the rest, as they say, is history,” he said. An email blast was sent regarding this new position and he immediately applied. “The job was meant to be for me,” he said.

“The job requires a master’s degree which I don’t have, but I am a true example that God’s favor will take you places. My years of experience in HIV which spans over 12 years, made up for me not having the degree. With the benefits of being a Yale employee, I am motivated to return to school and finish my degree,” he said.

Johnson graduated from Manatee High School in 2011 and continued his education at Florida Memorial University on a scholarship. For over 12 years, he has been working in HIV education. In 2011, he became ill and was hospitalized in Little Rock, Arkansas. “The doctor asked me if I had ever had an HIV test. Well, my response was, what is HIV? From that point, I promised God and vowed to educate my community on HIV. My mindset was if I didn’t know about it, more than likely my peers didn’t either. My test was negative and after I returned to Manatee County, I kept my promise to God. At that time, I was not out as a gay man. Then I met Rev. Ricc Rollins, an openly gay Black pastor. I worked with his outreach ministry informing people about HIV.”

Later moving to Miami, Johnson attended Florida Memorial University where he was involved in establishing a LGBTQ HIV Peer Support Group. “In 2014, I was chosen to be part of YBGLI (Young Black Gay Leadership Initiative). This program cultivated the minds of upcoming young Black gay leaders working in HIV.” He was then introduced to his mentor who was founder of Ujimi Mens Collective Conference, to become involved with the Kiki Project. “This was the only program for Black Same Gender Loving Men to provide prevention mechanisms as it pertains to HIV prevention,” Johnson said. This same program he volunteered with later hired him to lead as the Kiki Project Coordinator.

“As the coordinator, it was my task to implement programs, outreach events, and educational mechanisms that addressed the needs of Black Same Gender Loving Men as it relates to HIV Prevention.”

In 2019, when the program ended due to budget cuts, Johnson was hired by the Florida Department of Health of Broward County as the PrEP Navigator where he worked in the PrEP Clinic and assisted with outreach efforts that pertained to PrEP. In the middle of a Global Pandemic, he was hired as the County’s MSM Coordinator (Men who Sleep with Men). In this role he implemented programs and events that were not only beneficial to the MSM population but to everyone in South Florida. While in South Florida, he was a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., Worshipful Master of New Era Masonic Lodge Prince Hall No. 69, Liberty Elks Lodge, Minister of Music for Greys Temple CME Church and the Historic St. John AME Church. He was also a member of the Fort Lauderdale Branch of the NAACP, South Florida Back LGBTQ Council, funeral Attendant for Bailey Memorial Funeral Home (Dignity) and store associate at WAWA.

Johnson is the son of Monica D. McKinney and Enrico C. Johnson.