Tara Starwalt is a college professor and licensed social worker in Kentucky, and the creator of The AIDS Maid podcast.
Believing that compassion grows from understanding, she works through education and advocacy to alleviate stigma and discrimination for people living with HIV or AIDS.
Whether face to face in her HIV outpatient clinic or ear to ear by way of podcast, Tara strives to keep HIV at the national research forefront.
In 2019 developed a state-funded service linkage program to provide costly AIDS medications to eligible inmates across central Kentucky.
This program is still running today, increasing post-incarceration healthcare engagement and decreasing risk of transmission.
Presently she builds and delivers curriculum for Masters level social work programs, believing that the future of social wellness depends on the future social worker.