Our Founder
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Cody Lopez is a nationally recognized community strategist and public health advocate dedicated to advancing the health, social, and economic well-being of Black LGBTQIA+ communities. As Founder and CEO of BALR.Life: Black Advocates Leading Revolutions, Lopez has secured over $1 million in grant funding to build a growing National Leadership Network for People of Color by developing programs that blend cultural celebration with public health innovation.
Founded in 2016, BALR.Life addresses social determinants of health through community-building, leadership development, and advocacy. Supported by ViiV Healthcare’s ACCELERATE! Initiative, the organization has become a national model for empowering Black gay and bisexual men to strengthen socioeconomic stability as a pathway to better health. Its flagship programs such as the Black Advocacy Leadership Development Retreat also known as The BALR.Life Retreat and BALR.University, a capacity-building series designed to equip LGBTQ+ leaders to amplify their voices, design sustainable initiatives, and bridge the gap between public health systems and the communities they serve.
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BALR.Life’s impact was featured in ViiV Healthcare’s Field Innovations Impact Spotlight, where Lopez’s leadership was credited with reducing stigma, expanding access to care, and advancing community-driven solutions. Signature programs like PlusOne, a dialogue series on HIV and gender identity and VoNav, Vocational Navigation in Health, Education, and Career Counseling, have redefined how grassroots organizations engage people historically excluded from care, centering healing, authenticity, and economic empowerment.
Lopez is also the visionary behind HBCU SOUL Fest, Maryland’s only festival celebrating the legacy and pride of LGBTQIA+ students and alumni at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The 2025 festival drew more than 600 participants, provided 250+ health screenings, and cultivated partnerships with 12 community organizations, including BLAQ Equity Baltimore, ViiV Healthcare, and the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs. In recognition of his leadership, Lopez received an official Certificate of Recognition from the City of Baltimore for his outstanding contributions to youth engagement, public health, and cultural leadership.
Beyond BALR.Life, Lopez has served as a Behavioral Intervention Specialist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, supporting research on the intersection of HIV care retention and employment. Lopez has also held key roles at Morgan State University, where he was a Program Coordinator at the School of Community Health and Policy, led LGBTQIA+ Student Safe Space programs at the Morgan State University Counseling Center and he still currently advises the LGBTQ+ student organization S.O.U.L. Students Open to Unique Love (Formerly Rainbow SOUL). Lopez also currently advises a SOUL Student Organization Chapter at Coppin State University with plans to partner with more HBCU's in the coming months.
Lopez embarked on his public health journey in 2012 at the University of Maryland’s STAR TRACK Program where he held the roles of Social Media Manager, Peer Health Navigator, and Community Outreach Specialist. This experience provided him with a progressive understanding of gender, sexuality, and health equity. Today, Lopez continues to redefine how institutions engage marginalized communities by effectively bridging academia, culture, and advocacy.
Cody Lopez
Community Strategist, Advocate, and Founder of BALR.Life & HBCU SOUL