Background: Black heterosexual men living within high poverty metropolitan areas are at increased HIV risk. Since these men are less likely to interface with traditional HIV prevention settings, grassroots efforts to reduce their risk have increasingly involved partnerships with social spaces such as barbershops. However, the efficacy of such approaches is not fully understood. Barbershop Talk With Brothers (BTWB) is a single-session group intervention that leverages individual strengths and promotes community empowerment to support HIV risk reduction. Methods: Barbershops were randomized to the program or to a prostate cancer screening education control group; shop personnel received training to provide program related support. Eligible men completed intervention activities and audio computer-assisted structured interviews at baseline and six-months. Results: Between 11/12-7/16, 57 barbershops were randomized; 860 men were evaluated at baseline (experimental=436/control=424) and 650 (75%) at follow-up. Sixty-seven percent were U.S-born, 23% unstably housed, 52% had an incarceration history, 33% reported food insecurity, and 50% were employed. Controlling for baseline risk and other covariates, the intervention resulted in a marginally significant interaction between nativity and group (p=0.054); Men born in the U.S. and assigned to the program reported a lower likelihood of unprotected sexual behavior (28% versus 36%, AOR=0.63; 95% CI=0.41-0.95). Foreign-born men (primarily Caribbean), did not accrue benefit (p=0.30). Conclusion: BTWB findings support the feasibility of public health partnerships with barbershops, although behavioral benefits were only identified among U.S.-born men. Our presentation will discuss additional mediators and moderators of outcomes, as well as lessons learned in the conduct of the program.