Calvin Spinks, M.A.

Calvin Spinks is Director of Prevention and Education at Saint Louis Effort for AIDS, an HIV prevention, education and service organization serving thousands of people in the St. Louis, Mo. metropolitan area. There he focuses on providing mental health counseling, implementing and evaluating outreach programs, and helping clients with treatment adherence issues. Calvin holds a master's degree in human development counseling from Bradley University; he is certified by the Red Cross to provide basic HIV/AIDS education and is also licensed to teach courses on African-American AIDS fundamentals.

Before alighting at Saint Louis Effort for AIDS in 2002, Calvin held positions at numerous other HIV/AIDS organizations, including the Illinois HIV/AIDS Center and Sharon Health Care, both based in Peoria, Ill. He is currently completing coursework toward his Ph.D. in educational psychology, with an emphasis in counselor education. He is slated to finish the program in 2008.

Calvin's connection to HIV is intense and personal; he has seen first-hand the havoc wrought by the virus on the African-American community, and watched as the virus claimed the lives of eight of his close friends. He has dedicated himself to preventing the further spread of HIV, a passion that shines through in his life and his work.

In this spare time (such as it is), Calvin enjoys reading, writing poetry and children's short stories and spending time with his children.