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Alischa
Alischa Ross


Title and Organization:		Founder/CEO, Youth Empowerment Against HIV/AIDS
Gender and Age:		Female, 28
Location:		Melbourne, Victoria
Country of Residence:		Australia
Country of Birth:		Australia
Languages:		English



Website:		http://www.yeah.org.au
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About Me

Alischa Ross is the founder and CEO of Y.E.A.H. (Youth Empowerment Against HIV/AIDS), Australia’s only independent not-for-profit health promotion organisation solely focused on promoting HIV/AIDS awareness and education to the young people of Australia.Launched in 2005 YEAH’s specific goal is to work with young people to raise local knowledge about HIV and reduce infections while connecting Australians to the global proportions of the epidemic.
Australia’s HIV infection rates have risen by 41 per cent over the past 5 years. Most young Australians don't know what HIV is and are not aware of its local and global impacts.Alischa believes that Infection rates will continue to rise unless Australia’s youth are informed about HIV and are educated about protecting their sexual health.
Over the past 7 years Alischa has coordinated forums/workshops at international AIDS conferences in South Africa, USA, Spain, Japan, Thailand and Canada. Her travel is largely due to her determination to see the meaningful involvement of young people at all international and regional AIDS conferences. This drive lead her to being part of the first team that coordinated a youth forum for the Asia Pacific regional HIV conference (6th ICAAP) and she has gained a place on every regional and international conference Youth team to date.
Alischa is the author of educational resources, a public speaker and most of all loves working face to face with teenagers! Most recently she was appointed the Australian National Focal Point for GYCA (The Global Youth Coalition on AIDS), a global advisory board member of TeenAIDS and is currently sompleting her Master of Public Health. Much of Alischa's inspiration has derived from the personal experience and incredible impact AIDS has had on her own family; the loss of her Mother, baby Sister and recently her Step Father to AIDS related illnesses. The greatest lasting impact of AIDS in Alischa's life is the realisation of the importance of leadership. A great leader is not the one with the most followers, but the one who creates and inspires the most leaders.