Table 3.

Project ACT principles of effective technical assistance partnerships and advocacy practice

Technical assistance principles	Advocacy principles for eliminating barriers to HIV health care access for gay and bisexual men and transgender women
Leadership—Nurture others’ leadership potential by assisting them gain the skills and experiences required to advocate	Agility—Capitalize on unexpected opportunities to advance your agenda. Adapt your plans to changes in your environment. Shift tactics to correspond with the moves made and counterstrategies launched by your opposition
Networks—Facilitate mentees’ linkages to prospective partners from allied communities, organizations, and institutions	Collaboration—Seek out allies with whom you share common cause and partners who complement your strengths. Seek regular opportunities to learn from others' successes, failures, and challenges. Ensure community actions are strong and aligned with actions of allies
Strategic Focus—Continually create opportunities to engage partners on the project’s strategic focus and carrying that focus through to activities	Self-care—Engage in healthful self-care routines to protect your own mental and physical health, and to avoid burning out and feeling overwhelmed
Strengths Orientation—Reinforce and cultivate the existing strengths of those you mentor	Human Rights—Question and challenge fundamental inequalities promoted by mainstream and government institutions. Hold duty-bearers and others who hold power by virtue of their professional role to account for protecting the right to health for all people. Facilitate the participation of all people in society as is their fundamental human right. Leverage the entry points to the laws, policies, and practices that create structural barriers to health care access
Committed Mentoring—Remain available and responsive. Tailor your skill-building and technical support efforts to the needs your mentee articulates and those you observe	Inclusion—Prioritize the needs and concerns of the most marginalized and excluded rather than of the most privileged community members on whose behalf you advocate. Incorporate the perspective of those who are most impacted by oppression and whose rights are most under threat into your advocacy efforts and into the process for setting and revising your agenda
Qualified Team—Continually ensure the team possesses the competencies necessary to provide the technical support mentees require	Critical Analysis—Regularly conduct crosscutting political and socio-structural analyses. Choose tactics appropriate to your agenda and analysis of local conditions. Frame languages and messages to suit the local context
Additional Expertise—Make every effort to supplement the project team with qualified assistance in the areas in which the team has missing or weak competence	Safety—Assess risks to the safety and security of all involved. Make every effort to mitigate those risks. Inform campaign workers and constituents of likely risks and risk mitigation procedures. Identify the probability of backlash and other negative responses to campaigns that might increase constituents' vulnerability in society or set back current efforts. Weigh the probable benefits and costs of planned actions in light of the probability of potential damage to constituents and the larger mission
Transparency—Communicate truthfully and openly	Reflection—Engage in routine reflection on and re-assessment of strategies and tactics. Create opportunities for dissent and deliberative dialogue with constituents
Respect—Strive to honor and respect the dignity and self-worth of mentees and their constituents. Honor and respect their local knowledge and expertise	Evidence—Incorporate the best available evidence from credible sources into campaigns
Reflection—Engage in critical reflection and team dialogue throughout all phase of project planning, implementation, and closure	Access – Strive to remove barriers to HIV-health care for gay and bisexual men and transgender women
	Sex Positive—Affirm sex, pleasure, and sexuality as central to sexual health and human well-being
	Equity—Pursue actions that promote equity and non-discrimination through mitigating the structural inequalities that disadvantage gay and bisexual men and transgender women. Aspire to recreate society as socially just and fair
	Gender—Challenge gender norms, promote the rights and social position of cisgender women and transgender people, and redress power inequities between persons of different genders