The North American branch of L’Oreal’s Hairdressers Against AIDS (HAA) global advocacy program marked its first year stateside on December 1, World AIDS Day, in New York City.

To commemorate the success throughout its inaugural year, the organization announced at a press conference in Harlem the next steps for the program. Currently, HAA sends informational tool kits to salons so hairdressers and salon professionals can use their unique relationships with their clients to educate them about the virus. HAA’s future plans are to deploy teams of professional stylists and colorists who have been trained in current HIV/AIDS information to beauty schools across the country, taking the HIV/AIDS awareness message to the next generation of hairdressers.

On hand for the announcement were New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Harlem Council Member Inez Dickens, State Assembly Member Robert Rodriguez, AIDS activist Maria Davis, celebrity hairdressers Kimmi Hendrix and Traci Washington, and the chair of Hairdressers Against AIDS USA Christine Schuster.

To learn more about HAA, click here.

To read about HAA on the POZ 100, click here.