Throughout the course of the AIDS response, vibrant advocacy and activism have driven solutions to the pandemic by focusing on accountability, making sure that power, funds and policies work for people living with and at risk for HIV. As the HIV response has matured, data/evidence-informed decision-making has become a primary driver for the programmatic response. Access to and analysis of the data behind these decisions has been limited for civil society activists and advocates; at the same time, in East and Southern African countries, as in other regions, civil society organizations have been enlisted as partners by the very funders and programs they must hold accountable, increasing the risks they face when they speak out as activists. For the past years, the Coalition to build Momentum, Power, Activism, Strategy and Solidarity (COMPASS) Africa has confronted these realities head on with bold, well-resourced, coalition-based, data-informed advocacy and activism. COMPASS combines country-based coalitions of civil society groups in Malawi, Tanzania and Zimbabwe with seasoned advocacy partners in the global North.  Connected through a unique structure of strategic planning, real-time support and coordinated advocacy and activism, COMPASS partners have worked together to gather, analyze and use evidence and data to drive strategic advocacy campaigns and change policy and programs in the coalition focus countries and beyond.