Bakary
Tandia works as both an HIV case manager and policy advocate at African
Services Committee. As a case manager, he assists clients newly
diagnosed with HIV in accessing healthcare, housing and supportive
services that enable them to regain their health and build productive
lives. In this role, he facilitates a weekly support group that is
culturally and linguistically appropriate for people from across the
African Diaspora who are living with HIV.
As policy advocate, Mr. Tandia works to raise awareness of public
health and human rights issues in the African community and to empower
newcomers to understand and protect their rights as immigrants. He has
extensive experience in community organizing, coalition work and
building strategic partnerships across diverse communities. He
advocates on behalf of African immigrants by participating in public
hearings and lobbying trips to City Hall, Albany, and Washington, D.C.
and with elected officials and policymakers. He is a frequent media
commentator and has presented at numerous local and international
forums and conferences, including the historic immigration rally in New
York City in 2006 and the World Conference on Racism in Durban, South
Africa where he was a member of the African NGOs coordinating
committee.
Originally from Mauritania, Mr. Tandia is a human rights activist in
the movement against slavery and racial discrimination. He is also the
executive director of the Forum for African Immigrant Associations, and
organization begun under the auspices of African Services, and serves
on the board of the New York Immigration Coalition. He was recipient of
the 2005 New American Leaders Fellowship Program jointly sponsored by
Coro Leadership Center and The New York Immigration Coalition and was a
participant in the Hamburg-New York 2007 integrationXchange 2007, a
program jointly sponsored through DCS by the U.S. State Department and
the Koeberg Foundation, Germany.
Trained as a criminologist at the University of Abidjan, Ivory Coast,
Tandia speaks French, Soninke, and Pulaar, in addition to English.
