Last week, Alchemy joined leaders from across the country in Washington, D.C. for the 3rd Annual U.S. Business Action to End HIV Convening for a two-day series of Capitol Hill meetings, strategy sessions, and cross-sector collaboration aimed at protecting federal HIV funding and accelerating the national response to HIV. This visit builds on Alchemy’s earlier Capitol Hill efforts, detailed in our previous blog post.
Day 1: Advocacy on Capitol Hill
The week began with meetings in congressional offices, where coalition members emphasized the critical importance of sustaining federal HIV funding, specially programs that directly support prevention, PrEP access, HIV testing, linkage-to-care, and the safety-net clinics that deliver these services every day.
Alchemy’s role in these conversations was distinct. While many companies bring policy expertise or national scale, Alchemy brings something else: proximity to the patients, clinics, and communities most heavily impacted by HIV.
Our work with safety-net providers, including FQHCs, STD clinics, Ryan White programs, community health centers gives us a unique vantage point into where funding flows matter most, where gaps still exist, and where the federal government has the greatest opportunity to protect progress.
This point wasn’t lost on our partners. As Princess T. Durbin, Interim VP of Programs and Partnerships at the Southern Legal Center for Youth, shared during the visit:
Her words captured the essence of why Alchemy was invited to help lead these conversations:
We are accountable to the communities we serve.
Day 1 Evening: World AIDS Day Reception & Action Awards
That evening, coalition members, policymakers, HIV advocates, and community leaders gathered for the 3rd Annual World AIDS Day Reception. During the event, U.S. Business Action to End HIV recognized a select number of companies that completed all six Coalition commitments, awarding each with the 2025 Action Award. Alchemy was proud to stand alongside the honored organizations, demonstrating that the private sector can play a meaningful, measurable role in ending the HIV epidemic. Last week, we published a dedicated blog post on this award and what it means for our mission.
Day 2: Strategy, Innovation & the 2025 Impact Report
The second day of the convening focused on the future. Coalition members met with leaders from the National Institutes of Health, explored “Big Ideas” shaping the next decade of HIV prevention and care, and broke into working sessions on:
- pharmacy-based HIV prevention
- AI-driven innovation
- PrEP and treatment expansion
- stigma reduction
- community partnerships
- policy modernization
The coalition also released its 2025 Impact Report, which highlighted Alchemy’s work and partnership with community organizations, another reminder that the safety-net remains central to ending the HIV epidemic.
What This Means for Alchemy and the Safety-Net
For Alchemy, these two days in Washington reaffirmed something we see every day in our work with clinics across the country: The federal government cannot meet its HIV goals without investing in the safety-net.
Safety-net clinics deliver the majority of HIV prevention and treatment in the U.S.—particularly to communities of color, LGBTQ+ youth, people without insurance, and individuals navigating housing insecurity, transportation barriers, or stigma.
Alchemy’s mission is to strengthen these organizations with:
- integrated in-house pharmacies
- expanded access to PrEP and PEP
- data and workflow improvements
- prevention and testing optimization
- community partnerships and mobile programs
- financial sustainability through better pharmacy operations
That work doesn’t happen in D.C., it happens in exam rooms, testing rooms, community events, parking lots, mobile vans, pharmacies, and health centers in the neighborhoods that need them most. But Capitol Hill is where the resources, protection, and policy frameworks are built. That’s why these visits matter.
Moving Forward
We leave this week energized, encouraged, and deeply grateful for the coalition partners pushing this work forward. The message we brought to Congress will continue to guide our actions in 2026: Protect the progress. Invest in prevention. Support the safety-net. And put communities, not politics, at the center of the HIV response.
Alchemy is proud to represent the people and organizations doing this work on the ground, every single day. And we’ll continue showing up, locally for our clinic partners, nationally, and on Capitol Hill to advocate for them.
When you walk into a congressional briefing, it’s essential that the people in the room actually represent the communities in that state. What I appreciate about Alchemy is that you aren’t speaking in generalities, you’re doing the work on the ground. You understand real patients, real clinics, real barriers. That’s the voice lawmakers need to hear.
Princess T. Durbn
Southern Legal Center for Youth
