Roles:
- Project Manager, Weitzman Institute
- Member, Community Advisory Board, CIRA
Contact:
Biography:
Idiana Velez is the Project Manager for Research and Evaluation at Weitzman Institute. Idiana has 16 years of experience working in the human services field serving key populations and has always had a passion for helping underserved communities. Idiana worked for the Community Health Center, Inc.'s Center for Key Populations (CKP) as the PrEP Navigator and HIV Education Coordinator where her work focused on the uptake of PrEP. Through this position, Idiana took the lead in educating providers on PrEP and obtaining buy-in, as well as training the MA staff on how to approach patients that can benefit from PrEP. In her time working with CKP, Idiana assisted in the recruitment of focus groups for a research project on SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) data collection and compilation. Before starting at the Weitzman Institute, Idiana worked as a Grants Manager at an LGBTQ+ primary care center, managing a prevention grant from the Department of Public Health on PrEP and HIV Prevention.
In her current role as a Project Manager for the Weitzman Institute, Idiana contributes to multiple research projects by conducting patient interviews as well as assisting with patient recruitment and FQHC recruitment for project rollouts at the national level. She also brings her expertise in working with marginalized populations to meet the needs of the Weitzman Institute's diverse research portfolio. Additionally, Idiana plays a significant role in the development for Weitzman by actively seeking funding opportunities and leading the WI Internal Funding Committee. She also provides support for our grant writers by tracking all activities during the writing process as well as all components of the applications. Idiana has cross-department roles within Research and Education and provides administrative support to the VP/Director as well as the Director of Partnerships and Development at Weitzman Institute.
