Bob Bowers a.k.a. Da Pirate is a youth HIV/AIDS educator providing prevention through education in the United States. Bob has been living with HIV/AIDS for 25 years and has made it his life-mission to educate youth as well as adults about the disease. Bob is very outspoken about his diagnosis and his life experiences. To broaden his message of hope and compassion, he founded HIVictorious, Inc. in 2005. As an HIV positive speaker, Bob knows first hand the importance of putting a face to the disease in hopes of reducing AIDS stigma. He is far from the 'stereotypical' image of a person with AIDS, thus having a profound and lasting impact on his audiences. He speaks to middle schools, high schools, colleges, universities, jails and various community-based organizations. Mr. Bowers is also a leading and well respected advocate and AIDS activist based in Madison, Wisconsin. Bob is living proof that there is nothing impossible in this world if you apply yourself physically, spiritually and emotionally. Bob uses his life experiences as an activist and advocate to address broader social issues such as racism and homophobia that continue to drive the AIDS epidemic. In 2006, Bob created the youth HIV/AIDS awareness poster campaign, "What if it Were You?" It is his mission to tackle this very stigma while maintaining every day awareness of HIV/AIDS in our schools and communities. Please take some time to visit the amazing AIDS awareness posters that the high school students have created. Bob has a can-do approach and believes in unity in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Appreciating that, with the political and collective will, we can and will end the scourge of AIDS on our planet. Mr. Bowers is a champion for hope and survival despite some of the difficult circumstances that we ALL face in life.

"Compassion is our Cure!"