The development of the original five-year strategic plan involved more than 100 experts from inside and outside the government: experts in behavioral science, medicine, and the other disciplines required to address the HIV epidemic, including community-based HIV prevention providers, state and local health departments, members of infected and affected communities. These experts examined a situation analysis of the current epidemic, as well as a response analysis of CDC’s current activities. They then divided into workgroups to develop prioritized objectives and strategies to address each of the goals. The goals included rank-ordered objectives and strategies. The process for developing the 2001 Plan covered a two-year period that began in CDC in November 1998. The first meeting with the external participants was held in February 2000. Between February and April 2000, the workgroups held five face-to-face meetings and had 16 telephone conference calls to develop and refine their goals and to establish objectives and strategies to achieve the goals. In April 2000, CDC held meetings with each workgroup to evaluate their draft work plans. Gaps, omissions, overlaps, and ambiguities were identified and discussed. In June 2000, the draft strategic plan was presented to the Advisory Committee for HIV and STD Prevention (ACHSP). The plan was revised based on comments received from the ACHSP, external partners, and internal CDC review. In December 2000, the revised plan received endorsement from the ACHSP and was published in January 2001. The 2001 Plan established a vision for the nation regarding what could be accomplished with a significantly expanded investment in HIV prevention.