About

The Red Pump Project® raises awareness about the impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls. Our mission is to promote HIV prevention through education, and open dialogue about the issues that surround sexual and reproductive health. We do work online and on the ground to motivate action and encourage dialogue about the effects of the disease.

Founded in March 2009 by Luvvie Ajayi and Karyn Watkins, Red Pump believes that if HIV affects one, it affects us all. We use the red shoe as a symbol of empowerment to represent the strength and courage of women infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. The incorporation of fashion into the message of HIV prevention is our contribution as we hope to show that Awareness is Always in Style!™

How We Began

Every year, National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NWGHAAD) is March 10. To commemorate NWGHAAD in 2009, we asked bloggers to “Rock the Red Pump” out of our desire to get conversation started on the issue of HIV/AIDS and ask others to do the same. The concept was simple:

“Rock the Red Pump on your blog to represent the strength and courage of women fighting HIV/AIDS or affected by the disease. We ask that on March 10, you embed the Red Pump Widget within your post with a short snippet of its significance, or you can rock the widget on your sidebar.”

The goal of our initial campaign was 100 bloggers, but over 125 bloggers responded and “Rocked the Red Pump” on March 10, 2009. And, in 2010, the numbers doubled to over 250 sites. 2011, we blew our goal out the water and over 1,200 blogs and sites joined us to raise awareness about the impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls.

The Red Pump Project has grown from a social media campaign to a national nonprofit working on the ground and online to ensure that women are empowered with knowledge about HIV/AIDS and the issues surrounding it.

What We Do

The Red Pump Project uses the red shoe as a symbol of empowerment to represent the courage of women affected and infected with HIV/AIDS. We aim to:

• Commemorate major awareness dates with various events and campaigns
• Conduct prevention outreach and workshops along with our national network of ambassadors, among teens and women around the country
• Partner with organizations doing work in HIV/AIDS in their initiatives and events around the country
• Get women online and around the country to “Rock the Red Pump” both on and offline
• Get 1,000 people tested nationally every year.

Read more about what we do.

The Red Pump Project is a fiscally sponsored project of Netroots Foundation, a California 501(c)3 organization.