The 2026 Ballroom Summit, executed in collaboration between the Center for Black Equity, NMAC, Us Helping Us People Into Living Inc., and Destination Tomorrow, convened on May 22, 2026, in Washington, D.C., bringing together 122 registrants from across the United States for a landmark day of community-driven education, advocacy, and capacity building. The Summit addressed critical intersections of ballroom culture, HIV prevention, mental health, harm reduction, and civic power building, centering the expertise and lived experience of Black and Brown LGBTQ+ communities.
This Comprehensive Evaluation and Impact Report synthesizes registration data, quantitative evaluation metrics, and qualitative participant feedback to provide a full accounting of the Summit's reach, quality, and impact. The findings presented here are intended to inform program design, funder reporting, and strategic planning for the collaborating partners and their stakeholders.
Reach and Representation
The Summit attracted a geographically diverse cohort spanning at least 10 major metropolitan areas. The D.C. Metro area contributed the largest share of registrants (35%), followed by the New York Metro area (18%) and Baltimore (7%). Notably, 25% of registrants used organizational email addresses, representing more than 20 distinct institutions including NMAC, the Black AIDS Institute, HIPS, Destination Tomorrow, and academic institutions such as Yale University. Professional titles ranged from Executive Directors and Senior Directors to Prevention Specialists, Community Outreach Coordinators, Psychotherapists, and Health Equity Analysts, underscoring the convening's appeal to both grassroots community members and established public health professionals.
Evaluation Highlights
Of the 122 registrants, 46 completed session-level evaluations across six concurrent workshops, yielding a 38% response rate. The evaluation findings are exceptionally strong:
• 92% of all quality ratings were Excellent, with no session receiving a rating below Fair.
• 90.5% Content Agreement: Across 263 content-related Likert items, participants agreed or strongly agreed that session content was relevant, well-organized, and appropriately scoped.
• 97.8% Learning Outcome Agreement: Across 184 outcome-related items, participants affirmed that they gained actionable knowledge, skills, or perspectives.
• Four of six sessions achieved 100% Excellent quality ratings and/or 100% learning outcome agreement, indicating consistent, high-caliber programming.
Key Findings
1. Community-Centered Pedagogy Works: Sessions that grounded instruction in ballroom vernacular, relational trust, and peer-to-peer dialogue received the highest engagement and most affirming qualitative feedback.
2. Demand for Expanded Programming: Participants consistently requested longer sessions, follow-up convenings, and new topics including leadership development, technology, the Kiki scene, and substance use prevention.
3. Intersectional Expertise in the Room: Many respondents held multiple roles (e.g., CBO Staff and Ballroom Community Member), reflecting the dual professional and personal stakes participants bring to this work.
4. Civic Engagement Appetite: The Ballroom as Power Building session drew the largest evaluation response (n=16) and generated the most detailed feedback on coalition building, local elections, and intergenerational leadership.
5. Harm Reduction Needs Attention: While the Substance Use session received strong ratings, it had the smallest evaluation sample (n=3), suggesting either limited attendance or a need to strengthen outreach and framing around this critical topic.
Recommendations Overview
Based on these findings, this report offers recommendations in three domains:
• Engagement: Strengthen outreach for harm reduction and substance use programming, and create mentorship pipelines connecting established leaders with emerging voices.
• Evaluation: Increase response rates through incentivized, on-site collection; add pre/post knowledge assessments; and implement six-month follow-up surveys to measure sustained impact.
Beyond the Sessions: Summit-Wide Impact
The Summit's impact extended well beyond the six workshop sessions. A separate overall summit evaluation (n=4) confirmed the strength of the convening as a whole: 100% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that content was relevant to their needs, 100% rated networking opportunities as Very Satisfied, and participant mindset shifted measurably from words like Ambivalent and Nervous before the Summit to Hopeful, Encouraged, Inspired, and Motivated afterward. Facilitation quality received 75% Excellent ratings in this holistic assessment.
On-site health services provided by three partner organizations Us Helping Us, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and DC Health generated 355+ direct service touchpoints during DC Black Pride, including 78 HIV tests, 66 DoxyPEP provisions, 5 PrEP on Demand initiations, 1
Rapid ART Start, 5 mpox vaccinations, and 200 health information distributions. These services translated Summit-generated awareness into immediate, tangible health interventions.
The DC Black Pride Unity Ball attracted over 400 attendees and pioneered an innovative model for embedding HIV/STI education within ballroom competition. Participants competed for cash prizes by correctly answering prevention questions covering PrEP, PEP, DoxyPEP, U=U, testing frequency, and sexual health communication with incorrect answers corrected in real time by community-leader judges. Fifteen Q&A pairs were distributed via social media and posted around the venue, extending the educational reach far beyond the competition itself.
The 2026 Ballroom Summit demonstrated that when programming is designed by and for the communities it serves, engagement and impact follow. The collaborating partners Center for Black Equity, NMAC, Us Helping Us People Into Living Inc., and Destination Tomorrow are well positioned to build on this foundation, scaling what works and deepening investment in the areas where participants are asking for more.
Introduction & Background
Summit Purpose
The 2026 Ballroom Summit was executed in collaboration between the Center for Black Equity, NMAC, Us Helping Us People Into Living Inc., and Destination Tomorrow. Together, these partners convened ballroom community members, public health professionals, advocates, and organizational leaders for a day of skill-building, knowledge exchange, and collective strategy. Rooted in the recognition that ballroom communities have long served as sites of mutual aid, cultural expression, and survival for Black and Brown LGBTQ+ individuals, the Summit sought to formalize and amplify these strengths through structured, evidence-informed programming.
Convening Partners
The 2026 Ballroom Summit was executed in collaboration between four organizations united in their commitment to the health, equity, and empowerment of Black and Brown LGBTQ+ communities:
• Center for Black Equity (CBE) is a national organization dedicated to supporting and empowering Black LGBTQ+ communities through leadership development, health equity initiatives, and cultural programming. CBE has a longstanding commitment to centering ballroom culture within broader public health and social justice frameworks.
• NMAC leads with race to urgently fight for health equity and racial justice to end the HIV epidemic in America. NMAC provides capacity-building assistance and advocates for community-centered policies that address HIV in communities of color.
• Us Helping Us, People Into Living, Inc. is a Washington, D.C.-based organization that provides HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and support services grounded in the belief that communities most affected by HIV must lead the response.
• Destination Tomorrow is a Bronx-based community center serving LGBTQ+ individuals with a focus on culturally affirming social services, workforce development, and health programming. Together, these organizations brought complementary expertise in national advocacy, direct service delivery, community-based programming, and cultural competency to create a Summit that was both programmatically rigorous and deeply rooted in community.
Context
The Summit took place during a period of significant challenge for LGBTQ+ communities of color, including ongoing disparities in HIV incidence, mental health outcomes, and access to affirming care. Federal and state-level policy shifts have created additional uncertainty around funding for harm reduction, HIV prevention, and LGBTQ+ health services. Against this backdrop, the Summit served as both a capacity-building event and a space of solidarity, bringing together individuals who navigate these challenges daily in their professional and personal lives.
The six sessions offered at the Summit addressed a deliberately intersectional agenda: HIV prevention through the lens of pleasure and sex positivity; peer education rooted in house structures; mental health and chosen family; political power building; community-based prevention innovation; and substance use harm reduction. This breadth reflected CBE's understanding that the health and well-being of ballroom communities cannot be addressed through single-issue programming.
Report Purpose
This report provides a comprehensive evaluation of the 2026 Ballroom Summit, drawing on registration data and post-session evaluation surveys. It is intended for use by CBE leadership, program staff, funders, and community partners to assess impact, identify strengths and opportunities, and guide future programming decisions.
Methodology
Evaluation Design
The Summit employed a post-session evaluation design, collecting feedback immediately following each of the six concurrent sessions. This approach captures participants' assessments of content quality, relevance, and learning outcomes while the experience is fresh. The evaluation was designed to balance rigor with feasibility in a one-day convening format.
Instruments
Each evaluation instrument included the following components:
• Session Quality Rating: A single item asking participants to rate overall session quality on a four-point scale (Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair).
• Content Agreement Items: Four Likert-scale items assessing whether session content was relevant, clearly presented, well-organized, and appropriately scoped for the audience. Response options: Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strongly Disagree.
• Learning Outcome Items: Three to four Likert-scale items assessing whether participants gained new knowledge, practical skills, or actionable perspectives. Same response scale.
• Demographic/Role Items: Participants identified their primary role(s), and in some sessions, whether they had prior experience with similar content.
• Open-Ended Items: Three qualitative prompts: biggest takeaway, suggested future topics, and feedback on facilitators.
Data Collection
Evaluations were distributed in paper and/or digital format at the conclusion of each session. A total of 46 completed evaluations were received across the six sessions, representing a 38% overall response rate relative to the 122 total registrants. Response counts varied by session, ranging from 3 (Substance Use, Harm Reduction & Community Care) to 16 (Ballroom as Power Building).
Analysis Approach
Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including frequency counts and percentages for each Likert item. Agreement rates were calculated by combining "Strongly Agree" and "Agree" responses as a proportion of total valid responses. Qualitative data were reviewed thematically, with responses grouped by session and then examined for cross-cutting patterns across the full dataset.
Limitations
Several limitations should be considered when interpreting these findings:
• The 38% response rate, while adequate for a one-day event, means that findings may not represent the full range of participant experience.
• Session-level sample sizes are small, particularly for Session 6 (n=3), limiting the precision of percentage-based comparisons.
• The post-only design captures immediate reactions but does not assess sustained knowledge retention or behavior change.
• Self-selection bias may inflate positive ratings, as participants who were less engaged may have been less likely to complete evaluations.
• Some participants held multiple roles (e.g., Ballroom Community Member and CBO Staff), which complicates role-based subgroup analysis.
Registration & Attendance Profile
A total of 122 individuals registered for the 2026 Ballroom Summit. Registration data provide insight into the geographic reach, organizational representation, and professional diversity of the convening.
Geographic Distribution
Of the 122 registrants, 114 (93%) provided location data. The Summit drew participants from at least 10 distinct metropolitan areas, with the D.C. Metro area accounting for the largest share, consistent with the event's Washington, D.C. location. The geographic distribution demonstrates meaningful reach into the Eastern Seaboard corridor while also drawing registrants from the South (Atlanta, Houston, North Carolina) and Midwest (Chicago).
*Percentages calculated from 114 registrants who provided location data.
Organizational Representation
Thirty-one registrants (25%) used organizational email addresses, representing a broad crosssection of institutions engaged in HIV prevention, public health, community organizing, and LGBTQ+ advocacy. The remaining 91 registrants (75%) used personal email addresses, which may include additional organizational affiliates who registered with personal accounts.
Professional Diversity
Seventeen registrants voluntarily provided professional titles during registration, revealing a wide range of roles and levels of seniority:
• Prevention Specialists and Community Outreach Coordinators, representing frontline HIV prevention and testing services
• Senior Directors and Executive Directors, indicating organizational leadership engagement
• Psychotherapists and Mental Health Professionals, underscoring cross-sector interest
• Attorneys, Health Equity Analysts, and Consultants, pointing to engagement from policy, research, and advisory sectors
• Program Managers, reflecting mid-level organizational capacity
This mix of grassroots practitioners and institutional leaders is a hallmark of CBE's convening power and creates conditions for productive cross-pollination between community knowledge and organizational resources.
Evaluation Respondent Profile
Forty-six individuals completed session evaluations, representing a 38% response rate relative to total registration. Because the Summit featured six concurrent sessions, each respondent evaluated the specific session they attended. The distribution of respondents across sessions ranged from 3 (Session 6: Substance Use, Harm Reduction & Community Care) to 16 (Session 4: Ballroom as Power Building).
Role Distribution
Respondents identified their roles from a list of options; some selected multiple roles. The total number of role mentions (60) exceeds the respondent count (46) because of multi-role selections. This pattern itself is notable: it reflects the reality that many individuals in ballroomadjacent public health work occupy overlapping positions as community members, organizational staff, and advocates simultaneously.
Ballroom Community Members constituted the largest single role category (33.3%), followed by CBO Staff (25.0%). The presence of Advocates/Activists, Public Health Professionals, and House Parents/Leaders in roughly equal proportions (10% each) reflects the Summit's success in bridging grassroots and institutional perspectives. Specialized roles such as Mental Health Professionals, Healthcare Providers, and Executive Directors, while smaller in number, added critical depth to session discussions.
Response Rates by Session
The disproportionately high response count for Session 4 (Ballroom as Power Building) may reflect larger session attendance, higher engagement levels, or more effective evaluation distribution. The low response count for Session 6 warrants attention in future evaluation planning.
Quantitative Findings Overview
This section presents a cross-session summary of the three primary quantitative metrics collected through the evaluation instruments: session quality ratings, content agreement rates, and learning outcome agreement rates.
Cross-Session Summary
Interpreting the Metrics
Session Quality (% Excellent): The percentage of respondents who rated the session as "Excellent" on a four-point scale. The aggregate rate of 92% is exceptionally high and indicates consistent programming quality across all six sessions.
Content Agreement (Agree/SA): The proportion of content-related Likert items where respondents selected "Agree" or "Strongly Agree." The aggregate rate of 90.5% (238 of 263 items) demonstrates strong consensus that content was relevant, clearly presented, and wellorganized.
Learning Outcome Agreement (Agree/SA): The proportion of outcome-related items where respondents affirmed gaining new knowledge or actionable skills. The aggregate rate of 97.8% (180 of 184 items) is the Summit's strongest metric and suggests that participants consistently experienced meaningful learning.
Notable Patterns
• Sessions 1, 3, and 5 achieved perfect scores across all three metrics, though with smaller sample sizes (n=5 to 7).
• Session 4, with the largest sample (n=16), maintained near-ceiling ratings (94% Excellent, 97.5% Outcome Agreement), providing the most statistically robust evidence of quality.
• Session 2 showed the most internal variation, with one respondent rating quality as Fair and a content agreement rate of 87.5%, though outcome agreement remained at 100%.
• Session 6, despite its small sample (n=3), showed the lowest outcome agreement rate (83.3%), suggesting possible areas for content refinement.
Session-by-Session Analysis
This section provides a detailed analysis of each of the six Summit sessions, including quantitative metrics, participant demographics, and qualitative feedback. Each session analysis follows a consistent structure to facilitate comparison.
Session 1: Built-In Networks — House Structures as Peer Education & HIV Prevention
This session explored how the existing structures of ballroom houses with their built-in networks of trust, mentorship, and accountability—can be leveraged as vehicles for peer education and HIV prevention. The session engaged participants in dialogue about transparency, capacity building, and creating safe spaces within house and ball communities.
Quantitative Summary
Participant Roles
Ballroom Community Members (5), CBO Staff (1), Public Health Professional (1). The strong representation of community members suggests this session attracted its intended primary audience.
Key Takeaways
Participants highlighted the transformative potential of peer-led conversations within house structures:
Transformative or transactionable
Having those conversations that promote comfortable transparency
The opportunity for supporting my peers and the nuances of doing so in this particular community
The idea around what trust means and capacity building
Community and evolution to how we grow and get information to our community members
Being introduced to different ways to navigate conversations and create safe spaces for members
Suggested Future Topics
• Mental health within ballroom contexts
• Technology in leadership and prevention
• Leadership styles and tools
• The Kiki scene and generational connection
Facilitator Feedback
I love relaxing open conversations that makes everyone's opinions feel valued
I appreciated the dialogue and the way the facilitators were able to guide the conversation
This session's perfect scores across all metrics, combined with rich qualitative feedback, indicate that the facilitation approach grounded in open dialogue and community voice was highly effective.
Session 2: PrEP, Pleasure & Prevention Reframing HIV Education
This session challenged conventional approaches to HIV education by centering pleasure, sex positivity, and honest dialogue about sexual health. The session addressed PrEP access, provider communication, and the intersections of trauma, sexual compulsivity, and community support.
Quantitative Summary
Participant Roles
CBO Staff (5), Community Health Workers/Peer Navigators (2), Ballroom Community Member (1). The predominance of organizational staff and peer navigators reflects the direct relevance of this content to frontline prevention work.
Key Takeaways
Honesty about sex positivity
Normalizing sex positivity and using it to educate
Sex addiction and sexual compulsiveness stems from trauma. But through unpacking and community support can be transformed into sex positivity.
Community. How to beat stigma and sex positivity
Exploring different ways to have conversations with your healthcare provider
Suggested Future Topics
• Extended session time on sex positivity and HIV prevention
• Sex addiction and compulsive behaviors
• Leather and kink communities
• PrEP access for trans women of color
Facilitator Feedback
Great class needed more time
Great workshop!!!
I think we got too caught up in group discussions. Would have loved if the presenters could've went over all the slides. I feel like I missed out on some information
Session 2 showed the most internal variation of any session, with one Fair quality rating and a content agreement rate slightly below the Summit average. However, the 100% outcome agreement rate indicates that even respondents with content concerns still felt they gained valuable knowledge. The tension between wanting more structured presentation and valuing open group discussion is a productive design challenge for future iterations.
Session
3:
Mental Health & Chosen Family Care
This session addressed mental health through the lens of chosen family, exploring how ballroom communities can serve as sites of healing, self-discovery, and mutual support. The session drew professionals and community members with deep personal connections to the subject matter.
Quantitative Summary
(20/20)
Prior MH session experience 3 of 5 (60%)
Participant Roles
Mental Health Professionals (2), House Parent/Leader (1), CBO Staff (1), Advocate/Activist (1). This session drew the highest proportion of mental health specialists, indicating strong alignment between topic and audience.
Key Takeaways
Being able to relate in so many ways to why ballroom is important
I learned of imperfection and self discovery
Learning about the ballroom community
Education know your history culture difference
How our lives have been impacted by trauma
Suggested Future Topics
• Substance use and community care
Facilitator Feedback
Did an awesome job
The perfect scores and deeply personal qualitative responses suggest that this session created a rare and valued space for vulnerability and mutual recognition. The fact that 60% of respondents had prior experience with mental health programming in ballroom or LGBTQ+ contexts indicates an audience with both sophistication and ongoing need.
Session 4: Ballroom as Power Building
The most heavily evaluated session of the Summit, Ballroom as Power Building engaged participants in exploring how ballroom culture, networks, and organizing traditions can be channeled toward civic engagement, policy advocacy, and coalition building. This session generated the most extensive qualitative feedback of any session.
Quantitative Summary
advocacy session experience 10 of 16 (63%)
Participant Roles
This session had the broadest role diversity: Ballroom Community Members (9), CBO Staff (6), Advocates/Activists (5), Public Health Professionals (5), House Parents/Leaders (4), Healthcare Provider (1). Many respondents reported multi-role identities using semicolon-separated entries, reflecting the intersectional positioning of attendees.
Key Takeaways
Takeaways from this session clustered around three themes: political mobilization, intergenerational leadership, and coalition building.
The ways ballroom can is used for community organizing and policy changes
Talking about the policies that government is trying to take away from us
To be more confident in my ability to lead and make changes
Getting chapters and houses to show up to their local officials
How I can Take my skills, professional role, and ballroom influence to build civic coalitions across communities
trans men don't have to silo ourselves
The need to train a new generation of leaders
Unity, integrity and pride
Suggested Future Topics
• Leadership development (mentioned three times)
• Funding and grants for community organizations (mentioned twice)
• Drug awareness (mentioned twice)
• The Kiki scene (mentioned twice)
• Technology in organizing
• Inclusive programming for all genders
• Community capacity building for local elections
• Connections to health institutions
Facilitator Feedback
They were ALL amazing, and I can't wait to work with them closer
Thank you for curating this space. I don't take for granted being so fresh in the scene learning directly from legends and icons.
I thoroughly enjoyed the summit and the information obtained Session 4's combination of large sample size, near-ceiling metrics, and substantive qualitative feedback makes it the strongest single piece of evidence for the Summit's impact. The 63% prior advocacy experience rate indicates a room with deep engagement history, and the feedback reflects participants moving from awareness to action planning.
Session 5: Meeting Community Where It Lives New Approaches to Prevention
This session examined innovative, community-driven approaches to HIV prevention that meet individuals in their lived contexts rather than relying solely on clinical or institutional settings. Discussions centered on mutual aid, collective responsibility, and the role of community organizations.
Quantitative Summary
Respondents
7
(7/7)
(23/28)
(28/28)
Participant Roles
Ballroom Community Members (5), Executive Director (1), CBO Staff (1). The participant mix included both grassroots members and organizational leadership.
Key Takeaways
Community can take care of community as we always have.
How to organize communities
That we are all in this together
Doxy Salad
The reference to "Doxy Salad" (doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis, or Doxy PEP) indicates that the session introduced participants to emerging biomedical prevention tools, which represents a concrete knowledge gain.
Suggested Future Topics
• Kink education
• More information about partnering agencies
• Conversations about mutual support and collective care
Facilitator Feedback Amazing job!
We need to do more of this even if it's once a month zoom calls
The call for monthly virtual follow-up is one of the most actionable pieces of feedback in the entire evaluation dataset, suggesting that participants see this content area as requiring ongoing engagement rather than a one-time session. The 82.1% content agreement rate, the lowest among sessions with 100% Excellent quality ratings, suggests that while participants valued the session highly, some content items may have been outside their current scope of practice.
Session 6: Substance Use, Harm Reduction & Community Care
This session addressed substance use within ballroom communities through a harm reduction lens, exploring root causes, overdose prevention, and the role of community care in supporting individuals navigating substance use challenges.
Quantitative Summary
harm reduction experience 2 of 3 (67%)
Participant Roles
CBO Staff (1), Community Health Worker/Peer Navigator (1), House Parent/Leader (1). Despite the small sample, the role diversity indicates cross-sector interest in harm reduction content.
Key Takeaways
General knowledge on drug overdose
Work for my community
That substance use is usually rooted in something that is causing the use in itself. Whether it be depression, lack of belonging, etc.
Suggested Future Topics
• More focused presentation time
• Preventive strategies for substance use
Facilitator Feedback
The facilitator feedback for this session revealed a productive tension about pedagogical approach:
Cut people off who interrupt presentation
Continue to allow the audience to facilitate. While it may seem like you all didn't get to a lot of 'teaching' you did a lot facilitating!!! I love that
These contrasting responses reflect different expectations about the balance between structured instruction and audience-driven discussion. With an n of only 3, it is difficult to draw definitive conclusions about session quality, but the qualitative data suggest that the content
resonated even if the format generated mixed reactions. The identification of root causes (depression, lack of belonging) as drivers of substance use indicates that participants engaged substantively with a harm reduction framework. The small evaluation sample is the most significant finding here: it signals a need to examine whether attendance was low, evaluation distribution was inconsistent, or whether the topic itself carries stigma that suppressed participation.
Overall Summit Evaluation
In addition to the session-specific evaluations analyzed above, a separate post-summit evaluation captured participants' holistic assessment of the Ballroom Summit experience. Four respondents completed this instrument, providing ratings of overall quality, content relevance, logistics, networking, and likelihood to return. While the sample is small, the consistency of responses offers a meaningful signal about participant satisfaction.
Quality Ratings
Facilitation received particularly strong ratings, with three of four respondents rating it as Excellent. This is consistent with the session-level data, which consistently identified facilitator quality as a Summit strength.
Content & Experience Ratings
Twelve Likert items assessed participants' agreement with statements about content quality, environment, logistics, and resource connection. Agreement rates (combining Strongly Agree and Agree) were exceptionally high:
Nine of twelve items achieved 100% agreement. The three items falling below 100% encouragement to participate (75%), connection to resources (75%), and pre-summit communication (75%) represent actionable areas for improvement, though even these received majority Strongly Agree ratings. Notably, all four respondents strongly agreed that sessions were engaging, the single strongest consensus item.
Networking Satisfaction
100% of respondents (4/4) rated networking opportunities as Very Satisfied. This unanimous top-tier rating underscores the Summit's success in creating conditions for meaningful professional and community connection a critical function of in-person convenings.
Likelihood to Return and Recommend
All four respondents indicated they were likely to attend again and recommend the Summit. The one Somewhat Likely response on each item may reflect scheduling or logistical constraints rather than dissatisfaction, given the overall positivity of this respondent's other ratings.
Before and After: Participant Mindset Shift
Respondents were asked to describe their feelings in one word before and after the Summit. The shift from pre-Summit to post-Summit language is striking:
The before words reflect a range of orientations from excitement (Outstanding) to uncertainty (Ambivalent, Nervous) to openness (Curious). The after words converge on a uniformly positive and action-oriented register: Hopeful, Encouraged, Inspired, Motivated. This shift is particularly notable because it suggests the Summit did not merely inform but transformed participants' emotional orientation toward the work. The movement from Ambivalent to Encouraged and from Nervous to Motivated speaks directly to the Summit's capacity to build confidence and community belonging.
Qualitative Highlights
Expectations Coming In
Respondents arrived expecting:
• "Ballroom Presence, Family Reunion vibes"
• Engaging conversations with community members and professionals
• Collaboration and outreach opportunities All respondents confirmed their expectations were met.
Most Helpful Aspects
• The activist/advocate panel — cited for its direct relevance and inspirational quality
• Leadership education needs discussion identifying gaps and opportunities
• Trans masculine conversation creating rare dedicated space for this community
• Breakout sessions enabling deeper, more participatory engagement
Areas for Improvement
• Increase attendance and broaden outreach
• Extend session durations to allow for deeper engagement
• Begin promotion earlier to maximize participation
• Provide physical agendas for attendees
• Involve commentators more actively in programming
Additional Topics Requested
• Clinician-led health training tailored to ballroom community needs
• Political strategy and mobilization extending the power-building conversation
Future Engagement
Three of four respondents expressed a desire to return and requested information about the next summit date, signaling strong demand for continued programming.
Health & Wellness Provider Services
Three health organizations provided on-site services during DC Black Pride, extending the Summit's impact beyond the ballroom sessions into direct health service delivery. Their presence ensured that attendees had immediate access to HIV testing, prevention tools, vaccinations, and health information in a culturally affirming environment.
Us Helping Us, People into Living, Inc.
Us Helping Us is a Washington, D.C.-based organization dedicated to improving the health and well-being of Black people living with or at risk for HIV/AIDS. During DC Black Pride, they provided a comprehensive suite of biomedical prevention services:
Experience Rating: 4 out of 5. The slightly below-perfect rating was accompanied by a specific, actionable recommendation: encrypted WiFi for electronic client registration and charting. This is a logistical need rather than a programmatic concern and speaks to the increasing digitization of point-of-care services in community settings. Addressing this need at future events would support smoother service delivery and improved data management.
The 63 HIV tests represent a significant volume for a single event, and the 18 DoxyPEP provisions indicate that attendees are actively seeking emerging prevention tools. The single Rapid ART Start initiating antiretroviral therapy on-site represents the highest-impact individual service touchpoint, connecting a newly diagnosed individual to treatment immediately.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF)
AHF, one of the largest global HIV/AIDS organizations, participated by distributing health information and educational materials:
Experience Rating: 5 out of 5. Feedback: "No complaints. Everything went smoothly." The 200 information distributions represent broad reach into the event population, ensuring that
attendees who may not have sought testing or clinical services still received educational materials about HIV prevention, treatment, and sexual health.
DC Health
DC Health, the District of Columbia's public health agency, provided HIV testing, DoxyPEP, and mpox vaccinations during DC Black Pride:
Experience Rating: 4 out of 5. DC Health's feedback noted that "the location of the health suite could have been closer to where the attendees gathered." This is a practical, venuelogistics recommendation that underscores the importance of positioning health services in high-traffic areas to maximize utilization. The 48 DoxyPEP provisions the highest singleservice count from any provider indicate substantial demand for this emerging STI prevention tool. The 5 mpox vaccinations represent an important addition, reflecting the ongoing need for mpox prevention in communities disproportionately affected by the virus.
Combined Impact
Together, the three provider organizations generated a combined total of 355+ service touchpoints during DC Black Pride:
This service delivery data adds a critical dimension to the Summit's impact narrative. While the workshop sessions built knowledge, skills, and community connections, the on-site health
services translated awareness into action providing immediate, tangible health interventions to individuals who may face barriers to accessing these services in traditional clinical settings. The combination of high-touch biomedical services (78 HIV tests, 66 DoxyPEP, 5 PrEP, 1 Rapid ART Start, 5 mpox vaccinations) with broad-reach information distribution (200 materials) represents a layered prevention strategy that meets individuals at multiple points along the prevention continuum. The strong DoxyPEP uptake (66 total provisions across two providers) is particularly notable, reflecting growing community awareness of this newer STI prevention tool a topic addressed directly in the Unity Ball's HIV education Q&A. The provider feedback practical and logistically focused suggests that the event infrastructure worked well and that targeted improvements (such as encrypted WiFi and closer health suite placement) could further enhance service delivery at future events.
DC Black Pride Unity Ball
The DC Black Pride Unity Ball drew over 400 attendees, serving as both a cultural celebration and an innovative vehicle for HIV/STI education. The event exemplified the Summit's broader approach of embedding health promotion within culturally resonant community practices, transforming a traditional ballroom competition into a learning experience.
Event Design and Participation
The Unity Ball was intentionally designed to celebrate the wide range of identities, ages, abilities, and genders within the ballroom community, giving everyone an opportunity to participate. Categories were structured to be inclusive and affirming, ensuring representation across the community's full diversity.
• Over 400 attendees participated in or watched the competition
• Each participant competed for a trophy in their respective category
• To win cash prizes, participants had to correctly answer an HIV-related question
• Questions were shared on social media ahead of time, allowing participants to study and prepare
• Questions were also placed around the venue for additional exposure
Educational Integration
The Unity Ball's most innovative feature was its integration of HIV/STI prevention education directly into the competition structure. This approach leveraged the competitive energy and community attention inherent in ballroom culture to create natural learning moments:
• Cash Prize Incentive: Participants who wanted to win cash prizes beyond the base trophy were required to correctly answer an HIV/STI-related question. This created a tangible motivation to engage with prevention content.
• Pre-Event Preparation: Questions were distributed on social media in advance, transforming the study process into a community-wide educational campaign that extended beyond the event itself.
• Venue Placement: Questions posted around the venue ensured passive exposure for all attendees, not just competitors.
• Peer-Led Correction: When an incorrect answer was given, the correct answer was provided by one of the event's judges community leaders whose authority and credibility lent weight to the educational moment. This design turned every wrong answer into a teaching opportunity delivered by trusted voices.
HIV/STI Prevention Content
Fifteen question-and-answer pairs covered a comprehensive range of HIV/STI prevention topics, including PrEP, PEP, DoxyPEP, U=U (Undetectable = Untransmittable), testing
frequency, STI symptoms, treatment options, and sexual health communication. The questions addressed:
6. The difference between PrEP and PEP clarifying two commonly confused prevention tools
7. How to protect oneself from HIV covering condoms, testing, and PrEP
8. What PrEP is and how it works
9. Recommended testing frequency every 3 to 6 months for sexually active individuals
10. Whether HIV can be treated affirming that people with HIV can live long, healthy lives
11. The meaning of U=U that an undetectable viral load means HIV cannot be sexually transmitted
12. Common signs of STIs promoting symptom awareness
13. STI prevention methods beyond condoms including DoxyPEP and other strategies
14. Whether STIs can be treated reducing stigma and encouraging treatment-seeking
15. Why talking about sexual health matters normalizing communication with partners and providers
16. Risk of HIV from oral sex acknowledging low but non-zero risk
17. What DoxyPEP is and how it works educating on an emerging prevention tool
18. What to do if exposed to HIV emphasizing PEP within 72 hours
19. Whether someone can have an STI without knowing underscoring the importance of regular testing
20. Whether HIV treatment prevents transmission reinforcing the U=U message
The breadth of these questions spanning biomedical tools (PrEP, PEP, DoxyPEP, ART), testing practices, symptom recognition, treatment literacy, and communication skills represents a comprehensive sexual health curriculum delivered in a format that maximizes engagement and retention.
Significance
The Unity Ball demonstrates a model for HIV/STI education that other organizations and events could adapt: embedding health content within existing cultural practices, using competition and incentives to drive engagement, leveraging social media for pre-event education, and relying on community leaders as trusted messengers for health information. With over 400 attendees exposed to prevention content through multiple channels direct competition, venue signage, social media, and peer correction the Unity Ball's educational reach likely exceeded that of any single workshop session.
The full set of 15 HIV/STI prevention Q&A pairs is presented in Appendix D of this report.
Cross-Cutting Themes
Five themes emerged consistently across multiple sessions, reflecting the Summit's collective voice and pointing toward strategic priorities for future programming.
Theme 1: Trust, Transparency, and Relational Pedagogy
Across sessions, participants emphasized the centrality of trust and relational authenticity in effective programming. In Session 1, takeaways centered on "comfortable transparency" and "what trust means and capacity building." In Session 3, participants described the power of relating to others' experiences. In Session 4, facilitator feedback praised the creation of a space where newcomers could learn "directly from legends and icons." This pattern suggests that the Summit's most impactful moments occurred when facilitation created genuine conditions for mutual vulnerability and peer-to-peer exchange, rather than top-down instruction.
Theme 2: Community as Infrastructure
Participants repeatedly identified community itself not institutions, not clinical systems as the primary vehicle for health, prevention, and collective well-being. Session 5's takeaway that "community can take care of community as we always have" was echoed in Session 1's emphasis on "how we grow and get information to our community members" and Session 4's focus on getting "chapters and houses to show up to their local officials." This theme affirms CBE's community-centered approach and suggests that future programming should continue to invest in community capacity rather than external service delivery.
Theme 3: Demand for Depth, Duration, and Follow-Up
One of the most consistent pieces of feedback was a desire for more more time, more depth, and more follow-up. Session 2 respondents noted the session "needed more time." Session 5 participants called for "once a month zoom calls." Session 4 generated requests for breakout work, advanced leadership tracks, and continued engagement. This theme indicates that a single-day convening, while valuable, leaves significant unmet demand. Participants are ready for sustained programming, not just episodic events.
Theme 4: Intersectional Identity and Multi-Role Navigation
The evaluation data reveal that Summit participants do not fit neatly into single categories. Many respondents selected multiple roles: Ballroom Community Member and CBO Staff, or Advocate and Public Health Professional. Session 4 explicitly surfaced this: one respondent described using "my skills, professional role, and ballroom influence to build civic coalitions." Another noted that "trans men don't have to silo ourselves." This theme underscores the importance of programming that honors participants' full identities rather than addressing them through a single lens.
Theme 5: Emerging Priorities Leadership, Technology, and the Kiki Scene
Looking across all suggested future topics, three priorities stand out with particular frequency and emphasis. Leadership development was mentioned in at least four sessions, with requests ranging from leadership styles and tools to intergenerational mentorship and training new leaders. Technology appeared in multiple sessions as both a tool for organizing and a subject in its own right. The Kiki scene a youth- and newcomer-focused subset of ballroom culture was mentioned in Sessions 1 and 4 as an area needing dedicated attention. These emerging priorities represent opportunities for CBE to develop new programming tracks that respond directly to participant demand.
Recommendations
The following recommendations are grounded in the quantitative and qualitative findings presented in this report. They are organized into three domains Programming, Engagement, and Evaluation and include implementation guidance where appropriate.
Programming Recommendations
21. Extend Session Durations: Increase session time from the current format to a minimum of 90 minutes, with 120-minute options for high-demand topics such as PrEP and pleasure, power building, and mental health. Participant feedback consistently indicated that sessions ended before discussions were complete.
22. Develop Advanced and Beginner Tracks: Offer tiered sessions that allow newcomers to build foundational knowledge while providing advanced content for experienced practitioners. Session 4's data showed 63% of respondents had prior advocacy experience, suggesting readiness for deeper engagement.
23. Launch Virtual Follow-Up Series: Establish monthly or bimonthly virtual convenings to sustain momentum between in-person events. The explicit request for "once a month zoom calls" from Session 5 reflects broader demand for ongoing connection.
24. Create a Leadership Development Track: Leadership was the most frequently requested future topic across multiple sessions. Develop a dedicated track that includes leadership styles, organizational management, grant writing, and intergenerational mentorship.
25. Address the Kiki Scene Explicitly: Multiple sessions surfaced demand for content focused on the Kiki scene and generational connection. Consider dedicated programming that bridges established ballroom leadership with younger or newer community members.
26. Integrate Technology Content: Develop sessions on digital organizing, social media strategy, and technology-enabled prevention outreach to meet participant interest in technology as a tool for community building.
Engagement Recommendations
1. Strengthen Harm Reduction Outreach: The Substance Use session's small evaluation sample (n=3) suggests a need to examine barriers to participation. Consider integrating harm reduction content into other session tracks, using peer-led outreach to normalize attendance, and framing sessions in terms of community care rather than substance use alone.
2. Formalize Multi-Role Recognition: Acknowledge participants' intersectional identities in registration, evaluation, and programming design. Allow for multi-role self-identification and ensure content honors the complexity of participants' lived experiences.
3. Expand Geographic Outreach: While the Summit drew registrants from at least 10 metro areas, 53% came from D.C. and New York. Targeted outreach to Southern, Midwestern, and West Coast ballroom communities could broaden reach and impact.
4. Build Mentorship Pipelines: Respond to the demand for intergenerational connection by creating formal mentorship structures pairing established leaders (house parents, executive directors, veteran advocates) with emerging voices.
5. Facilitate Cross-Organizational Networking: With 25% of registrants representing organizations, the Summit is uniquely positioned to facilitate partnerships. Consider dedicated networking sessions, organizational showcases, or collaborative project incubators.
Evaluation Recommendations
1. Increase Response Rates: Implement on-site, facilitated evaluation collection with the goal of achieving a 60% or higher response rate. Consider brief incentives (e.g., event merchandise, raffle entries) to encourage completion.
2. Add Pre/Post Knowledge Assessments: Introduce brief pre-session and post-session knowledge checks to measure actual learning gains rather than relying solely on selfreported agreement.
3. Implement Six-Month Follow-Up: Develop a follow-up survey administered approximately six months post-event to assess sustained behavior change, professional application of Summit content, and ongoing engagement with CBE programming.
4. Standardize Multi-Role Data Collection: Use checkbox-based role selection (rather than open-text) with clear definitions to improve consistency in role-based analysis across sessions.
5. Collect Demographic Data: Consider adding optional demographic questions (age range, gender identity, years of experience) to enable more nuanced subgroup analysis while respecting participant privacy.
Conclusion
The 2026 Ballroom Summit achieved what few single-day convenings can: it brought together a genuinely diverse cross-section of community members, practitioners, advocates, and leaders; it delivered consistently high-quality programming across six distinct sessions; and it generated the kind of feedback that signals not satisfaction but hunger a desire for more time, more depth, and more connection.
The numbers tell one story: 92% Excellent ratings, 90.5% content agreement, 97.8% learning outcome agreement. These are exceptional metrics by any standard, and they reflect the Center for Black Equity's deep understanding of its audience and the care with which programming was designed and facilitated.
But the qualitative data tell a richer story. Participants described moments of recognition, transformation, and recommitment. They spoke about trust and transparency, about community as infrastructure, about the urgency of training new leaders and showing up for local officials. They asked for longer sessions, virtual follow-ups, and programming on topics that reflect the real complexity of their lives: leadership and kink, mental health and substance use, technology and intergenerational connection.
The Summit also revealed areas for growth. The small evaluation sample for the Substance Use session points to potential barriers around stigma or outreach. The tension between structured presentation and open dialogue, visible in Sessions 2 and 6, suggests that facilitation design should be more explicitly calibrated to each topic's needs. And the 38% response rate, while adequate, leaves significant participant experience unrecorded.
These are not weaknesses but opportunities. They are the natural next questions that arise when a program is working well enough to generate demand for more. The collaborating partners Center for Black Equity, NMAC, Us Helping Us People Into Living Inc., and Destination Tomorrow have demonstrated their collective capacity to convene, to teach, and to listen. The next step is to build sustained infrastructure virtual series, mentorship pipelines, advanced programming tracks, and robust evaluation systems that transforms a single day of impact into a continuous cycle of community investment.
The ballroom community has always been a place where people come to be seen, named, and celebrated. The 2026 Ballroom Summit honored that tradition and expanded it, showing that the same structures that sustain culture can also advance health, build power, and change policy. The evidence is clear. The community is ready. The work continues.
Appendix A: Full Qualitative Responses
This appendix presents all open-ended responses collected through the session evaluations, organized by session and response type. Responses are presented verbatim with only minor formatting adjustments for readability.
Session 1: Built-In Networks
Session 2: PrEP, Pleasure & Prevention
Session 3: Mental Health & Chosen Family Care
Session 5: Meeting Community Where It Lives
Session 6: Substance Use, Harm Reduction & Community Care
3 Continue to allow the audience to facilitate. While it may seem like you all didn't get to a lot of 'teaching' you did a lot
Appendix B: Geographic Distribution of Registrants
The following table presents the full geographic distribution of Summit registrants. Of 122 total registrants, 114 provided location data (93%). The remaining 8 registrants did not include location information in their registration.
The concentration of registrants in the D.C. Metro area (35.1%) is consistent with the event's Washington, D.C. location and CBE's regional presence. The New York Metro area's substantial representation (18.4%) reflects the historical significance of New York as a center of ballroom culture. The Baltimore-D.C.-New York corridor accounted for approximately 60% of all registrants with location data, suggesting strong regional networks along the Eastern Seaboard.
The 25 registrants from "other" locations represent a wide geographic spread including cities in the South, Midwest, and other regions, indicating that the Summit's reach extends beyond CBE's immediate geographic base. Targeted outreach strategies for future convenings could leverage these existing connections to strengthen national representation.
Appendix C: Evaluation Instruments & Data Notes
Instrument Design
Session evaluations were designed as brief, session-specific instruments intended to be completed in 3-5 minutes at the conclusion of each workshop. The instruments balanced quantitative measurement with open-ended feedback collection, prioritizing accessibility and completion rates over comprehensiveness.
Item Structure
Each evaluation included the following standard components:
• One overall quality rating (4-point scale: Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair)
• Four content agreement items (5-point Likert: Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree)
• Three to four learning outcome items (same 5-point Likert scale)
• Role identification (select all that apply from predefined list)
• Session-specific experience items (e.g., prior attendance at similar sessions)
• Three open-ended prompts: biggest takeaway, suggested future topics, and facilitator feedback
Data Processing Notes
• Agreement rates combine "Strongly Agree" and "Agree" responses as numerator; total valid responses as denominator.
• Quality ratings are reported as percent selecting "Excellent" out of total valid responses.
• Session 4 (Ballroom as Power Building) contained duplicate quality rating columns in the data source; both columns were analyzed, yielding 32 total ratings from 16 respondents.
• Multi-role selections were preserved as reported; role totals therefore exceed respondent counts.
• Open-ended responses are presented verbatim with only formatting adjustments (no substantive edits).
• Eight registrants who did not provide location data were excluded from geographic percentage calculations but included in all other analyses.
Data Availability
The underlying registration and evaluation datasets are maintained by the Center for Black Equity and are available for additional analysis upon request. This report presents all data provided for the evaluation; no responses were excluded from the analysis.
The following 15 question-and-answer pairs were used during the DC Black Pride Unity Ball. Participants competing for cash prizes were required to answer one of these questions correctly. Questions were shared on social media before the event and posted around the venue. When incorrect answers were given, judges provided the correct answer, creating community-led learning moments.
# Question Answer
1
What is the difference between PrEP and PEP?
2 How can you protect yourself from HIV?
3 What is PrEP?
PrEP is taken before potential exposure to prevent HIV; PEP is taken after potential exposure, within 72 hours
Using condoms, getting tested regularly, and taking PrEP
PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) is a medication taken to prevent HIV infection
4 How often should you get tested for STIs? Every 3 to 6 months if sexually active
5 Can HIV be treated?
6 What does U=U mean?
7 What are common signs of an STI?
8 How can you prevent STIs beyond using condoms?
9 Can STIs be treated?
Yes with proper treatment, people with HIV can live long, healthy lives
Undetectable = Untransmittable a person with an undetectable viral load cannot sexually transmit HIV
Unusual discharge, sores, itching, burning during urination, or pain during sex though many STIs have no symptoms
DoxyPEP (antibiotic prophylaxis), regular testing, reducing number of partners, and open communication
Yes most STIs can be treated and many can be cured with appropriate medical care 10
Why is talking about sexual health important?
11 Can you get HIV from oral sex?
12 What is DoxyPEP?
13 What should you do if exposed to HIV?
14 Can you have an STI without knowing it?
It promotes informed decisions, reduces stigma, and helps partners protect each other
The risk is low but not zero using barriers can further reduce risk
DoxyPEP is doxycycline taken after sex to reduce the risk of bacterial STIs such as syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea
Seek PEP (Post-Exposure Prophylaxis) within 72 hours of exposure
Yes many STIs are asymptomatic, which is why regular testing is essential
15 Does HIV treatment prevent transmission?
Yes effective treatment that achieves an undetectable viral load prevents sexual transmission (U=U)
These questions were designed to cover the full continuum of HIV/STI prevention knowledge: awareness of risk, understanding of biomedical tools, testing practices, treatment literacy, and communication skills. The question set reflects current best practices in sexual health education and incorporates emerging tools (DoxyPEP) alongside established messaging (U=U).
