The EN-ACTE Program of Atlanta, Georgia is an exciting theatre-based youth development and peer education program targeted at adolescents to reduce health risks. EN-ACTE, Achieving Change Through Theater in Education is based at the Department of Pediatrics at the Emory University School of Medicine. It was founded in 1997 by Ken Hornbeck who directs a company of young, diverse actor/educators, who create real-life characters in dramatizations that deal with social issues. Following each performance, the company remains in character to participate in an intimate discussion with the audience. EN-ACTE has reached over 8,500 youth with its poignant performance piece Out of the Shadows and has been acclaimed by such organizations as the National Minority AIDS Council and the Morehouse School of Medicine.

In 2000, EN-ACTE was invited to perform at the National Rural Health Association Conference in Savannah, Georgia, and at the US Conference on AIDS held in Atlanta. In the spring of 2001, the program was featured in a segment of the Centers for Disease ControlŐs worldwide satellite broadcast for HIV Prevention and Stigma. For more information contact Ken_Hornbeck@oz.ped.emory.edu.