CHICAGO, IL — May 14, 2026 — PrEP4Teens (P4T) will host its Youth Leadership Committee Showcase, an evening celebrating young people who are using art, storytelling, and interactive experiences to advance conversations around PrEP, HIV prevention, and community health amongst their peers.
The showcase will feature creative projects developed by 6 Youth Leaders through the PrEP4Teens Youth Leadership Committee. The event will highlight how teens are turning knowledge into action by using their voices, experiences, and creativity to educate their peers and uplift real stories from their communities.
Guests are invited to attend and experience youth-led art, storytelling, and health education activities that reflect the power of young people to shape public health conversations in Chicago.
“The Youth Leaders have participated in numerous workshops and discussions throughout PrEP4Teens programming that challenge them to explore questions such as: ‘What is PrEP and what does it protect you from?’ ‘What is the difference between social marketing and corporate marketing?’ ‘What does prevention mean?” says David Gauna, P4T Creative Consultant. “They engaged with these conversations creatively through drawing exercises, wheatpasting, stenciling, and even vogue. PrEP4Teens provides the tools for youth to help shape future campaigns through social media content, sticker design, murals, and creative activations. This allows P4T to continue growing while staying true to its mission: a campaign by young people, for young people.”
“PrEP4Teens is a community; it is safe, loyal, understanding, and welcoming,” says Skai Underwood, P4T Youth Engagement Specialist. “By centering these values, we ensure that our programming remains authentic and reflects the diverse needs of Chicago’s youth. Ultimately, this program proves that health resources like PrEP are for everyone, regardless of background, and that when young people feel truly supported, they don’t just participate in public health; they reshape it for the better.”
Launched in November 2023, PrEP4Teens is an arts and advocacy-focused multimedia social marketing campaign aimed at increasing awareness about PrEP and sexual health among adolescents in the Chicago area. The campaign uses youth-centered messaging, public art, storytelling, and community engagement to make HIV prevention education more accessible and relatable for young people.
Recently, PrEP4Teens received the Alliance for Research in Chicagoland Communities’ 2025 Dr. Virginia Bishop Community-Academic Research Partnership Award, which recognizes exemplary partnerships that use a community-driven research approach to impact community health in Chicagoland. The award honored the PrEP4Teens partnership between Northwestern University, TaskForce Prevention and Community Services, and Jim Pickett Consulting.
The PrEP4Teens Youth Leadership Committee Showcase is open to community members, partners, youth-serving organizations, families, and anyone interested in supporting youth leadership, creativity, and community health.
Community members can register for the showcase at: https://bit.ly/P4T_Art
Event Details
When: May 22, 2026 | 5 PM – 9 PM
Where: Chicago Art Department
Registration: https://bit.ly/P4T_Art
Cost: Free
About PrEP4Teens
PrEP4Teens is a youth-centered, arts and advocacy-focused campaign designed to increase awareness of PrEP and HIV prevention among teens in the Chicago area. Through public art, peer education, storytelling, and community partnerships, PrEP4Teens helps young people access accurate, relatable information about sexual health and prevention.
About TaskForce Prevention and Community Services
TaskForce Prevention and Community Services advances health equity and wellness for LGBTQ+ youth and young people on Chicago’s West Side through HIV prevention, healthcare navigation, food access, housing support, workforce readiness, creative programming, and community-centered services.