Mike Dilbeck, the national director for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago's Team To End AIDS (T2) endurance-training program, has resigned, effective Sept. 1, to work full-time for the RESPONSE ABILITY Project, which he founded.
"I am very proud of T2 and what it has accomplished, [including] the national reputation it has developed, in its first 18 months," Dilbeck said. "While I lead the T2 team towards these accomplishments, it is truly an acknowledgement to everyone at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago and staff members for T2 that we have accomplished what we have. I am confident that T2 is set up to continue this success for many years to come as we provide critical fundraising dollars for those living with, and impacted by, HIV/AIDS."
Dilbeck, 47, a West Lakeview resident, was the T2 Program Director in 2010, leading its inaugural, award-winning year. As national director, Dilbeck oversaw the expansion of T2 into Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and Houston. He was responsible for actually launching T2 in D.C. and Houston.
"I am also very proud of my 'pet project'—the creation and launch of the exclusive T2 Facebook application," Dilbeck said.
Dilbeck founded the RESPONSE ABILITY Project three years ago.
"I am both the founder and a professional speaker for the RESPONSE ABILITY Project," Dilbeck said. "I am completely accountable for the message it sends, the results it accomplishes, and the programs it delivers for its audiences."
Dilbeck said his goals for the RESPONSE ABILITY Project include writing more, such as, a book, blog posts and articles. Plus, he will do more speaking, craft a keynote speech for Corporate America, and become a nationally-recognized media spokesperson on the subject of bystander behavior.
"The RESPONSE ABILITY Project is a national initiative to empower everyone to overcome bystander behavior—when you see something happening and know that it is wrong yet you do nothing [or] say nothing," he said.
Dilbeck's own neighborhood, Lakeview, has been inundated with crime of late, grabbing media spotlight and causing commotion among residents.
"There are clearly bystanders to these situations recently and so many other criminal and harmful activities," Dilbeck said. "The goal of the RESPONSE ABILITY Project is to impact these crimes and activity by more people stepping up and saying something or doing something—either in the moment or later. The overall culture in our environment tells me that the message is so needed and critical."
The RESPONSE ABILITY Project is designed to "empower anyone and everyone to overcome bystander behavior in their life and truly make the difference they want to make—for their families, their work environments, their friends, for perfect strangers, and for themselves," Dilbeck said.
"The LGBT community is certainly impacted by bystander behavior as much as any other community. The LGBT community definitely experiences our fair share of discriminatory language and actions, bullying, hate crimes, etc., and these all usually involve others who see it, know about it, yet do nothing or say nothing."
Dilbeck will remain in Chicago.
"Thanks to Mike's hard work, AFC expanded and grew its endurance-training program and assisted partner agencies in D.C., Los Angeles and Houston to set up their own endurance-training fundraising events. He's a powerhouse motivator and his positive energy and smarts will be missed," said AFC president David Munar.
For information about T2, go to: www.T2EA.com .
For more information about Dilbeck or the RESPONSE ABILITY Project, go to www.RAProject.org .
