Staff Highlights: Mikola De Roo Receives 2022 World AIDS Day Award (VIDEO)
"Whether it's been in service of social justic for people living with HIV or what young people need to thrive, all my work is anchored by this belief: that whether we are dying, healthy, or somewhere inbetween, all human beings deserve housing, food, healthcare, and basic dignity and respect."
–Mika De Roo, Managing Director of Marketing & Communications
Since 2001, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH) has honored individuals and organizations for their outstanding contribution toward ending the HIV epidemic in New York City. We’re thrilled to announce that The Door’s Managing Director of Marketing and Communications, Mika De Roo, is a NYC DOHMH 2022 World AIDS Day Award recipient for her years of HIV/AIDS advocacy work.
A native New Yorker, Mika has served as a longtime communications and marketing strategist and has held several nonprofit leadership roles, most notably at Housing Works. As Housing Works Vice President of Advocacy Communications & Marketing, she crafted messaging for advocacy initiatives around ending the AIDS epidemic at local, state, and national levels and oversaw the launches for the ACT NOW: END AIDS and End AIDS NY coalitions. Mika’s current role at The Door focuses on furthering our mission to empower young people to reach their potential by amplifying what makes our community a unique, safe, and special place for NYC youth. The Door is proud to have Mika as a thought leader and member of our staff.
The virtual awards ceremony took place during NYC DOHMH’s World AIDS Day citywide event on December 1, 2022, a program that featured remarks from New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan, and Dr. Sarah Braunstein, Assistant Commissioner for the Bureau of Hepatitis, HIV, and Sexually Transmitted Infections; comments from HIV experts, providers, community members, activists, and people living with HIV; and performances by local artists. The World AIDS Day citywide event program also included the brief joint award acceptance remarks below, which Mika gave with fellow awardee Krishna Stone, GMHC’s Director of Community Relations. Other awardees included Managing Director of Advocacy and Organizing at PrEP4All Kenyon Farrow, ACT UP New York, Apicha Community Health Center, La Nueva Esperanza, and OnPoint NYC.
Door Communications Leader Mika De Roo, 2022 World AIDS Day Awardee Remarks
Health Commissioner Dr. Vasan said:
“It is my honor to announce our World AIDS Day 2022 award recipients. They represent an extraordinary body of work, past and present, and are a broad sample of the kind of brave, community-building efforts that, together, lead to change at scale and move us closer to ending the HIV epidemic in New York City….. Mika De Roo started her work with HIV in the 1990s, volunteering for many years before joining Housing Works where she oversaw the communications strategy for the agency’s policy initiatives and spearheaded coalition-building efforts. For five years, Mika joined [GMHC Director of Community Relations and fellow awardee] Krishna Stone in coordinating the planning and implementation of World AIDS Day citywide events. She currently serves as Managing Director of Communications and Marketing at The Door, a comprehensive youth development services organization.”
You can view a recording of the NYC DOHMH’s World AIDS Day citywide event in its entirety on YouTube. The awards segment of the program begins at the 34:00 timestamp.