Our Past

Founded in 1994 as the National Women and HIV/AIDS Project (NWAP), the organization’s original mission was to stop the spread of HIV among African American women. Recognizing that the issues and challenges facing Black women with respect to HIV, AIDS, and STDs needed to be addressed within the larger context of family and community, NWAP became Community Education Group in 1996.

Initially based in Washington, DC, CEG quickly earned trust, respect, and a reputation for effectiveness by training and deploying outreach workers throughout the District of Columbia neighborhoods hardest hit by the HIV epidemic. Pioneering the peer-based Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Prevention Services (CHAMPS) program, CEG recruited and trained community health workers, including ex-offenders, people living with HIV/AIDS, and individuals with histories of substance abuse. Partnering with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services, (SAMSHA), Gilead Pharmaceuticals, and the DC Department of Health, CEG operated mobile testing units, provided HIV counseling and linkage to care, and distributed condoms via a network of community partners ranging from barbershops to beauty salons. To spread health messaging in the Black community, CEG produced and distributed informational brochures and videos, disseminated educational materials at testing sites and community events, conducted message testing, and developed social marketing campaigns.

Honored for its work by then-Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and others, CEG became nationally known and stepped up as a leader of collaborative and capacity building efforts as well, transitioning from direct outreach and education to creating replicable, peer-empowering programs. Providing training and technical assistance to other non-profits in D.C. and across the country, CEG assisted allies in needs assessment, program development and evaluation, organizational development and mentorship, diversity training, leadership and resource development, and focus group training. At the same time, CEG’s community-based research activities expanded to include empirical research, program evaluation, needs assessments, survey design, and rigorous data analysis for quality assurance and monitoring.

As CEG continued to evolve, its demographic cohort widened to include groups such as heterosexual men, men who have sex with men but do not identify as gay or bisexual, and previously incarcerated citizens. Moving beyond its initial focus on HIV/AIDS, CEG also expanded its services to include pregnancy prevention and women’s empowerment, conducted prevention outreach to women at risk for heart disease, integrated AA and NA group meetings into its on-site programs, and became the first organization to test widely new rapid Hepatitis C screening methods.