Winnie Byanyima is the Executive Director of UNAIDS and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations. A passionate and longstanding champion of social justice and gender equality, Ms. Byanyima leads the United Nations efforts to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030. Ms. Byanyima believes that health care is a human right and has been an early champion of a People’s Vaccine against the coronavirus that is available and free of charge to everyone, everywhere.

Before joining UNAIDS, Ms. Byanyima served as the Executive Director of Oxfam International, a confederation of 20 civil society organisations working in more than 90 countries worldwide, empowering people to create a future that is secure, just, and free from poverty.

Ms. Byanyima was elected for three terms and served eleven years in the Parliament of her country, Uganda. She led Uganda's first parliamentary women’s caucus, championing ground-breaking gender equality provisions in the county's 1995 post-conflict constitution.

Ms. Byanyima led the establishment of the African Union Commission’s Directorate of Gender and Development and also served as Director of Gender and Development at UNDP. She founded the Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE), an influential Ugandan NGO, and has been deeply involved in building global and African coalitions on social justice issues. A global leader on inequality, Ms. Byanyima has co-chaired the World Economic Forum and served on the World Bank’s Advisory Council on Gender and Development, ILO’s Global Commission on the Future of Work and the Global Commission on Adaptation.

Dr. Jen Kates is Senior Vice President and Director of Global Health & HIV Policy at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, where she oversees policy analysis and research focused on the U.S. government’s role in global health and on the global and domestic HIV epidemics. Widely regarded as an expert in the field, she regularly publishes and presents on global health and HIV policy issues and is particularly known for her work analyzing donor government investments in global health; assessing and mapping the U.S. government’s global health architecture, programs, and funding; and tracking and analyzing major U.S. HIV programs and financing, and key trends in the HIV epidemic, an area she has been working in for close to thirty years. Prior to joining KFF in 1998, Dr. Kates was a Senior Associate with The Lewin Group, a health care consulting firm, where she focused on HIV policy, strategic planning/health systems analysis, and health care for vulnerable populations. Among other prior positions, she directed the Office of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Concerns at Princeton University.

Dr. Kates has served on numerous federal and private sector advisory committees on global health and HIV issues, including PEPFAR’s Scientific Advisory Board, the NIH Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council, the CDC/HRSA Advisory Committee on HIV, Viral Hepatitis and STD Prevention and Treatment (CHACHSPT), the board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the Governing Council of the International AIDS Society. She is also a lecturer at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Dr. Kates received her Ph.D. in Health Policy from George Washington University. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College, a Master’s degree in Public Affairs from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts.

Chris joined Friends in 2016 and serves as its President & CEO. He leads the organization’s efforts to engage U.S. decision makers on the lifesaving work of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the importance of expanding global health investment to bring these epidemics to an end and advance global health equity.

At Friends, Chris has played a central role in two major global health financing wins: in 2019, achieving the first increase in U.S. support to the Global Fund in six years, the third largest increase in the history of U.S. support, in the face of opposition from the presidential administration; and, in 2020 and 2021, approval of $3.5 billion in emergency COVID-19 funding for the Global Fund, the largest ever single U.S. appropriation to the organization.

Previously, as Chief of the Community Mobilization Division at UNAIDS, Chris helped make the case for investment in civil society as an essential part of the AIDS response. As Vice President and Director of Public Policy at amfAR, Chris defended global AIDS research and program funding and worked to advance domestic HIV policy and global key populations programming.

Chris authored the monograph that inspired the effort to create the first comprehensive US National HIV/AIDS Strategy, then coordinated the successful advocacy push to establish the Strategy. He helped develop and managed the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) Missing the Target series of reports on global HIV treatment scale up which received international attention. Chris co-founded and served as Executive Director at AVAC, an internationally recognized HIV research and prevention advocacy group.

As appropriations staff to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in the late 1990s, Chris designed the first legislation to provide incentives for development and delivery of vaccines against HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, a bill that helped advance the global dialogue on tackling major infectious diseases. He holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Dr. Siobhan Crowley BSc. (Hons), MBBS (Distinction), MRCP(UK), MSc. (Hons) trained as a medical doctor at ImperialCollege in the UK and is an accredited specialist physician with specialist post-graduate training in HIV & Sexual and reproductive medicine, health education, public health evaluation and infectious diseases, has recently joined the Global Fund as Head of HIV.

Siobhan has held a range of clinical and technical positions in the UK NHS, the not for profit sector, the World Health Organisation, UNICEF, UNAIDS, USAID programmes and philanthropy. She has spent time in global, regional, and country roles (Papua New Guinea, Nepal, India & South Africa) having worked extensively in technical support roles across Africa and Asia. With over 15 years in senior technical and executive positions with the UN and Philanthropy, the breadth of her clinical and technical expertise combined with a background loaded with country experience and grant portfolio oversight give her a unique technical and operational view that makes her well suited to lead the Global Funds HIV work.

Siobhan takes complex scientific ideas and distils them into practical approaches countries can deploy to improve health outcomes and deliver better value for money. Siobhan was a pioneer setting up family HIV services in London in 1990 and providing outreach KP services. Siobhan’s experience developing evidence based public health policy for HIV care and treatment at WHO, enabled People living with HIV to contribute to global standard setting for the first time – and has since become established practice at WHO.   Siobhan’s experience also demonstrates her ability to develop and sustain partnerships – working at both community level and on the global stage.

Siobhan is married and has three grown up children, and is usually to be found on a bike, listening to music or at the theatre in her spare time (Covid has hampered some of these).

Matthew Rose, Director, U.S. Policy & Advocacy, Health GAP, is a longstanding HIV and social justice advocate and our resident U.S. government policy wonk. He brings over a decade of experience in community engagement, federal health policy, HIV science, and advancing health equity. Prior to joining our team, Matthew served as the Policy and Advocacy Manager for the National Minority AIDS Council, where he worked on federal appropriations and authorization legislation related to HIV and health disparities affecting people of color. He also oversaw the development program for the National HIV Biomedical Prevention Summit, one of the leading conferences on HIV biomedical implementation in the United States. Matthew is currently the community co-chair of the Microbicide Trials Network and a member of the Vaccine Advocacy Resource Group (VARG)—an independent, advocate-led, global team of AIDS prevention research advocates that plays a critical role as a liaison in the highly complex field of HIV vaccine research. He serves on the Board of Directors for HIPS, which advances the health, rights, and dignity of people and communities impacted by sex work and drug use by providing non-judgmental harm reduction services, advocacy, and community engagement led by those with lived experience

Acting Principal Deputy U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator

Dr. Mamadi Yilla, PhD., is a member of the Senior Executive Service of the U.S. government and is currently the Acting Principal Deputy U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator. As such, she serves as the second in command to the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and supports the daily oversight, coordination, leadership, management, and implementation of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to ensure that all its activities and resources, including its annual budget of approximately $6 billion in over 50 countries are as impactful, effective, and efficient as possible

Prior to joining the Dept. of State, Dr. Yilla served the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a research fellow in immunology, improving diagnostic tools for vaccine-preventable childhood diseases.

Dr. Yilla completed undergraduate and graduate training at the State University of New York at Buffalo and post-doctorate training at MIT in Cambridge, MA.

Born and raised in Sierra Leone, she was educated in Sierra Leone, the United Kingdom and the United States. Dr. Yilla is married and the mother of three daughters; her eldest is a graduate of Penn State University, and her twins are recent graduates of Harvard College.

Harold Phillips (He/Him) currently serves as Deputy Director of Programs at NMAC, formerly known as the National Minority AIDS Council.

Prior to joining NMAC, Mr. Phillips served as the Director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP).  In this position, he led the effort to set the Administration’s domestic HIV/AIDS priorities.  This included monitoring and implementing the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS), consulting with the Office of Management and Budget, coordinating with others on the Domestic Policy Council, the National Security Council, and the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator to ensure America’s response to the HIV epidemic was accelerated, comprehensive and reflective of the lived experiences of those at risk of and living with HIV.

Mr. Phillips held prior positions at the Health Resources and Services Administration’s HIV/AIDS Bureau (HRSA/HAB). His work there included serving as Office Director for the Ryan White Program’s AIDS Education and Training Centers (AETC), Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) and HAB’s work funded by the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).  He was the Deputy Director of the Ryan White Part B and AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAP), and worked with Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program recipients, planning councils, providers and patients. He served on the CDC/HRSA AIDS Advisory Committee (CHAC) from 2003 – 2010. He has a Master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an undergraduate degree from Kalamazoo College in Michigan and is a person living with HIV.

Jonathan Mermin, MD, MPH, is Director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention at CDC. He has focused his public health career on science-based, practical programs that increase health equity and decrease incidence and mortality.  Rear Admiral Mermin was an internal medicine resident at San Francisco General Hospital, and a preventive medicine resident at CDC and the California Department of Health Services. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Stanford University School of Medicine and received his MPH from Emory University.  He has co-authored over 200 scientific publications.

Vice President & Chief Advocacy Officer, AIDS United. A longtime advocate for vulnerable populations, Carl Baloney has focused his career on developing innovative policy solutions that benefit disenfranchised communities across the country, with a particular focus on the rural south.

Before joining the staff of then U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon, (D-LA) where he worked through the 111th Congress, Carl began his career working on numerous state and federal candidate and issue-specific campaigns.

Later, Carl served as senior legislative assistant to Rep. Melancon. In this role, Carl advanced policy related to Agriculture and Fisheries, Social Security, the Federal Budget, Appropriations, and a host of other issue areas. Most recently, Carl served as a senior member of Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s legislative affairs team, where he worked to advance the reproductive health and rights of women and families in the United States.

Over the course of his career, Carl has continued to support grass-roots advocacy and political engagement by taking leave to aid several political and advocacy campaigns across the country, developing volunteer recruitment programs, and Get Out The Vote efforts. Carl attended the University of Richmond where he studied Political Science and International Relations.

Carl brings enthusiasm and over eight years of federal legislative policy and political experience to AIDS United.  

“From the implementation of the ACA, to Treatment as Prevention, to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)—We have so many great tools to treat and prevent HIV,” said Baloney. “I’m excited to further policy that brings these new advances to people who stand to benefit the most.”

Naina Khanna is a national speaker, trainer, and advocate who has worked in the HIV field since 2005, following her HIV diagnosis in 2002. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for AIDS United, as a member of the Women’s HIV Research Initiative, and served on President Obama’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) from 2010 – 2014. Prior to working in HIV, Naina co-founded and served as National Field Director for the League of Pissed Off Voters, a progressive national organization working to expand participation of young people and communities of color in electoral politics. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Medical Sociology at the University of California – San Francisco.

Julie Patterson joined The Center for Community Solutions in December, 2018, in the position of Director of the AIDS Funding Collaborative (AFC), and a Fellow with The Center for Community Solutions. In these roles, she oversees the AFC’s coordination, leadership, advocacy and funding in Greater Cleveland. Julie has more than 25 years of experience in the fight against HIV/AIDS, professionally and as an advocate and volunteer. She has worked with AIDS Service Organizations, in academia, in local public health and consulting. She is also an adjunct faculty member of the Master of Public Health Program in the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University. Julie holds a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Arts from Tufts University. She serves on the Cuyahoga Ending the HIV Epidemic Advisory Council and the Cuyahoga Regional HIV Prevention and Care Planning Council, the City Club of Cleveland Health Committee, and the Case Western Reserve University/ University Hospitals AIDS Clinical Trials Unit Community Advisory Board.

Dafina Ward is an expert in program and organizational development, with a focus on community health initiatives. She currently serves as Executive Director of the Southern AIDS Coalition (SAC). Founded in 2001, SAC is committed to ending the disproportionate impact of HIV and STIs on southern communities through advocacy and programming that centers the experiences of those most impacted.  

A self-described “recovering attorney”—she is also a grant writer, speaker and trainer who utilizes her legal training and negotiation skills to build collaborations through problem solving and strategic engagement to build impactful and sustainable programs. With over a dozen years of experience addressing the southern HIV epidemic, Dafina works to end siloed approaches to transformation, through thoughtful partnerships and meaningful relationships. As an experienced non-profit remote manager, she coaches leaders in areas of "trauma informed" supervision and remote organization process development. She has shared her strategies with organizational leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic through webinars hosted by Emory University and the Professional Association of Social Workers in HIV/AIDS. Dafina is also a writer whose work has been published in The Washington Post, The Lily and Role Reboot. She enjoys sharing her experiences with students as an Adjunct Professor in Nonprofit Management at the University of South Carolina. Dafina received her BA from Clark Atlanta University (Atlanta, GA) and her Juris Doctor from Temple University’s Beasley School of Law (Philadelphia, PA). She and her husband, Ahmad, reside in the Lowcountry of South Carolina with their two brilliant daughters.

Anne currently serves as the Chief Development and Impact Officer at the Elton John AIDS Foundation. She has worked both overseas and domestically on HIV and maternal and child health for over 20 years. Previously, Anne served as the Chief Operating Officer for Pathfinder International, an organization that focuses not only on HIV but also more broadly on sexual and reproductive health and rights in 16 countries. Anne has also held executive leadership positions for the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation in London, and the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation in Virginia. She has lived and worked for longer periods in Indonesia, the Palestinian Territories, India, and Botswana, implementing large-scale programs to achieve tangible impact. For six years, Anne worked for Frontline AIDS (previously the International HIV/AIDS Alliance) as both the Senior Program Officer for Southeast Asia and the Head of Partnerships. This experience made her a lifelong champion of the value of intermediary organizations that provide funding and capacity-building support to community-rooted and community-led groups.

Global Health Consultant - Bio coming soon!

Dr. Stellah Bosire is the Co-Executive Director of UHAI-EASHRI Africa’s first indigenous activist fund for and by sex workers, LGBTI people which supports civil society organizing across 7 East and Central African states and pan-African organizing addressing; poverty, violence, ensuring that education, employment, housing, and healthcare are accessible to all, without prejudice while fighting oppression and injustice daily through changing legislation, landscapes, and lives. Her expertise both locally and internationally is in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights focusing on vulnerable populations- sex workers, people who inject drugs, LGBTIQ and people living with HIV/AIDS influencing laws, policies and programs beyond Kenya.

Matthew “Matty” Hart joined as Director of the Global Philanthropy Project in 2015, leading the efforts of an organization internationally recognized as the primary thought leader and go-to partner for donor coordination around global LGBTI work.

Founder and Principle of the Paris-based Lafayette Practice, Hart has previously served as Senior Strategist for Europe for Funders Concerned about AIDS, and National Director for Public Engagement at Solutions for Progress.

Hart also serves as the President of the Board of Directors of the Calamus Foundation (DE), and has previously served as a member of The Civil Marriage Collaborative, a board member of Funders for LGBTQ Issues, Philadelphia Cultural Fund, Philadelphia’s Sustainable Business Network, and The Leeway Foundation; and the community funding board of Bread & Roses Fund. A Jonathan Lax Academic Fellow, Hart received degrees in Urban Studies and Cultural Anthropology from Temple University

Valerie L. Rochester serves as the Chief Health Equity Officer at CHC: Creating Healthier Communities and in this role leads CHC’s community health and equity initiatives. Ms. Rochester brings over 25 years of experience in the public health and human services fields, with a focus on addressing health needs in communities of color and improving access to quality programs and services, using a health, social equity, and justice-focused lens. Prior to joining CHC, she served as Vice President/Chief Program Officer at AIDS United. She was also Director of Programs and Training at Black Women’s Health Imperative, a CHC partner, where she led the organization’s national programmatic responses to address racial and gender-based health inequities. Ms. Rochester has served on the board of directors of numerous national and community-based organizations, including her current tenure as board member and treasurer with the National Minority AIDS Council, and board member with May Is All About Trans. Because of her commitment to addressing health inequities in communities of color, Rochester was awarded the Congressional Black Caucus Healthcare Hero Award in 2002.

Venita is the Co-executive director of the Positive Women’s Network-USA, a national membership organization for women living with HIV.  Venita served as the public policy manager for a federally qualified health center in Houston, TX, where she monitored HIV related health policy and managed an advocacy training program for people living with HIV.  In 2016, Venita led a citywide effort to end the HIV epidemic in Houston and drafted the Roadmap to Ending the HIV Epidemic in Houston. Venita has led anti criminalization efforts in Texas defeating an effort to allow HIV test results to be subpoenaed in criminal prosecutions and defeated attempts to introduce new HIV criminalization legislation.  Venita was diagnosed with HIV in 2003 and is deeply committed to equity, racial justice and developing the leadership and meaningful involvement of people living with HIV in all decisions that impact the HIV community.

Darwin Thompson currently serves as the Associate Director for Corporate Giving were he manages Gilead’s domestic HIV grant-making. Darwin has more than 10 years of experience working with community-based organizations providing social and support services for marginalized populations.  Before Gilead, he served as Executive Director for a community nonprofit organization in Atlanta, Georgia focused on HIV prevention for Black Gay Men, where he provided financial and programmatic oversight as well as developed strategic partnerships and successful programs.  He is also trained in several CDC behavioral interventions including Mpowerment, dUP, Couples HIV Counseling and Testing, and Many Men Many Voices (3MV).  Before his work in Atlanta, Darwin was Dean of Students within the DC Public Schools system and managed corporate partnerships for a nonprofit specializing in housing and healthcare for homeless populations. 

Darwin is a proud graduate of Morehouse College where he earned a BA in Sociology and is also a graduate of the Satcher Community Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine.  When he is not working he spends his time refereeing women’s college basketball.

Christine Campbell is Sole Proprietor CMConsulting, focusing on social justice organization and strategy management with the highest levels of stakeholder engagement and integration. With more than 30 years of experience, she has worked for nonprofit organizations focused on social justice issues including poverty, racism, health disparities, homelessness and housing and other human rights issues. She has served in just about every capacity from direct service, technical assistance, advocacy to leadership. Her career has been built on her primary professional value – furthering social justice for all in terms of rights, opportunities, privilege, power and distribution of wealth within society. 

Ms. Campbell has her Masters of Science in Organization Development from American University.

Caterina (Cat) Gironda (She/Her) is the Director of Research at Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA) where she manages their annual resource tracking project, mapping the landscape of philanthropic support to address HIV/AIDS. During Cat’s tenure with FCAA she has helped to grow their research department and modernize their data collection, security, and analysis capabilities. Her work has helped to integrate FCAA’s research into all programmatic facets and make their data useful and accessible to members and other stakeholders. Prior to that, Cat worked at North Carolina State University in the Gender & Sexuality field. Her previous work at nonprofits and philanthropy includes stretches at Girl Rising and the Third Wave Fund, as well as early work in HIV/STI prevention education. Cat received her master’s degree in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from the CUNY Graduate Center in New York.

Mr. Milan is President & CEO of AIDS United a national organization focused on grant-making, policy and capacity building with the mission of ending AIDS in the U.S.  AIDS United has granted over $104 million to local communities during its 30-year history including over $5 million to 150 current grantees spanning 35 states.  A national expert on HIV, Mr. Milan is living with HIV for over 30 years.  He is chair emeritus and long-time board officer of the Black AIDS Institute, a Senior Fellow at Atlas Research, a Fellow at the Altarum Institute, and a Fulbright Senior Specialist in Global HIV.  Over the past three years he has worked as the HIV Subject Matter Expert consultant on federal projects including a CDC study assessing the impact of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy and High Impact Prevention on health departments, and for a federal Department of Health and Human Services study assessing the entire federal investment on HIV and Viral Hepatitis for the Black MSM population.  Mr. Milan travels widely giving keynotes, trainings and presentations on HIV topics.  He has done three speaking tours of six African countries as an expert on HIV for the U.S. State Department, and has addressed millions including at the White House. A trusted partner and advisor, Mr. Milan was appointed in 2015 by the U.S. Global AIDS Ambassador to the PEPFAR Scientific Advisory Board.  In 2015 he was appointed to the Steering Committee of the AIDS Education and Training Centers (AETC) National Coordinating Resource Center, and in 2014 as the HIV Subject Matter Expert on the Advisory Board for the CDC’s National Capacity Building Assistance (CBA) Partners Network Resource Center. He served five years at the appointment of the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services as co-chair of the CDC/HRSA Advisory Committee on HIV and STD Prevention, Treatment and Care, and chaired the CDC’s External Peer Review of the entire $750 million portfolio of the Division of HIV Prevention. He serves currently on the Dean’s Advisory Council of the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, and on the Funders Concerned About AIDS Board of Directors. An experienced executive, he has managed annual budgets in excess of $20 million and 80-person staffs.  Mr. Milan was AIDS Director for the City of Philadelphia.  He worked fifteen years as a vice president at the Constella Group and at the Altarum Institute, while serving as project director for the seven-year $70 million CDC National Prevention Information Network (NPIN) and Act Against AIDS Leadership Initiative. He has chaired five non-profit boards of directors including ActionAIDS in Philadelphia, the National Episcopal AIDS Coalition, the Black AIDS Institute, and the Princeton Class of 1978 Foundation.  He chaired the Philadelphia Ryan White Planning Council, and served on planning committees for the 2012 International AIDS Conference, the 2015 USCA and two CDC National HIV Prevention Conferences.  A leader and lawyer, Mr. Milan served six yeas Chief of Staff to the President of Temple University and was a Philadelphia Deputy City Solicitor.   His numerous honors include from HRSA for “leading the national and international fight against HIV disease,” and the 2015 Public Service Award from the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care.   His law degree is from the New York University School of Law and his Bachelor’s in Public and International Affairs is from Princeton University.

Born in Tuscaloosa, AL, P.J. Moton-Poole, LMSW is a 2013 graduate of Washington University’s Brown School of Social Work in St. Louis, MO where he earned his Master of Social Work degree with a concentration in Children, Youth and Families. P.J. is also a 2011 graduate of Fisk University in Nashville, TN where he earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in Psychology and Sociology.

For the past 15 years P.J. has worked  in the field of HIV/AIDS research, prevention and care and treatment, specifically focusing on Black Men and Black Trans Women. P.J. has become recognized as a leader among the Millennial generation of game changers in Public Health. 

Aside from serving as Senior Manager, External Affairs US where he oversees the Men of Color portfolios,  PJ is also husband (Isaiah) and a father (Kaiden, 10). In 2018 P.J. and Isaiah started PJ’s Popcorn & Snacks, a gourmet popcorn company with an emphasis on culture.

Tom Viola is the Executive Director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA), one of the nation’s leading industry-based not-for-profit fundraising and grant-making organizations. 

Since its founding in 1988, BC/EFA has raised over $300 million for essential services for people living with HIV/AIDS and other critical health issues nationwide.  broadwaycares.org

BC/EFA supports a wide variety of programs at The Actors’ Fund:  The HIV/AIDS Initiative; The Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative; Friedman Health Center for the Performing Arts; Artists Health Insurance Resource Center, The Dancers’ Resource; Addiction and Recovery Services and more.  In 2021, BC/EFA awarded The Actors Fund over $7.7 million.   Since 1988, $120 million.

In addition, BC/EFA awards grants to over 450 AIDS and family service organizations in all 50 states, Washington, DC and Puerto Rico.  In 2021, BC/EFA’s National Grants Program awarded more than $8 million to these social service agencies.  Since 1988, $130 million.

A native of Pittsburgh, Viola is a graduate of the College-Conservatory of Music at University of Cincinnati. He performed in dinner theatres and regional theatres and worked as a freelance writer until 1987 when he was hired by Actors’ Equity Association for what was to be a temporary assignment. He became president Colleen Dewhurst’s executive assistant and, in 1988, the administrative director of the then-fledgling Equity Fights AIDS, until its merger with Broadway Cares in 1992.  He has been executive director since 1997.

Since 1998, Viola has served as a Trustee of The Actors Fund and is chair of The Actors Fund’s Human Services Committee and a member of the Executive Committee.

In 2010, Viola was awarded the Tony Honor “in recognition of the leadership, advocacy and creativity with which he has mobilized the theatre community’s response to AIDS and other critical health issues as executive director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.”

He’s also been honored with the Howard Ashman Award from GMHC, the Patrick Quinn Award for Distinguished Service from Actors’ Equity, the Sandy Fund Award from the Humane Society of New York and The Mosaic Award for Distinguished Alumni from the University of Cincinnati.  He never forgets that before all that he was also one hell of a cater-waiter.

Florence Thune is the Executive Director for Sidaction, a French advocacy and grant-making organization funded in 1994. Its Board of directors is a coalition of scientists (including Pr Françoise Barre-Sinoussi, 2008 Physiology or Medicine Nobel Prize)), care providers, and HIV/aids community-based organizations’ representatives. Through its annual calls for proposals, Sidaction is funding HIV/aids research projects (99 projects in 2016, mainly in the field of basic science) as well as HIV/aids prevention and care projects in France (100 in 2016) and 20 other countries in the world (mostly in West Africa and Easter Europe). In addition, Sidaction provides its partners with technical assistance and capacity building for their local staff, more specifically in the field of HIV/aids paediatrics, access to prevention and care for key-affected populations as well in human and financial resources management. Sidaction is also actively involved in advocacy both in France and at the international level to influence public policy and to come to the support of its partner organizations.

Florence Thune joined Sidaction in 2005, first as Training Programme Officer for community-based organizations within the International Programmes department and five years later became the Head of the Capacity Building Unit. She took the position of Director of the National Programmes Department (for France) in June 2015 and was finally appointed as Sidaction Executive Director in May 2017. As a graduate of a French international business and management school, Florence started to work in the humanitarian field in 1987 with Handicap International, a large French non-governmental organization working on disability issues at an international level. She spent nine years in the field as Head of Humanitarian Missions in Djibouti and Somalia, as well as in Thailand and Pakistan. She then worked for nine years at Handicap International’s headquarters in France, first as a Programmes Desk Officer then as Deputy Director in charge of institutional donor relations. During this time, she directly contributed to Handicap International’s involvement in the field of HIV and disability in several programmes across Africa and Asia. Florence also serves on the Board of Directors for FCAA.

Florence Thune has been living with HIV for 21 years and regularly shares her own experience in the media in order to fight against discrimination and the growing invisibility of people living with HIV.  

Aryah Lester (she/her), a nationally-awarded author, speaker, model, and educator, is a woman of trans experience from New York living in the DMV area. Aryah is a Board member of AIDS United, Southern AIDS Coalition, and The Well Project, and is also national Board Chair of STARR - the nation’s first transgender organization, which was founded by Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson. Aryah founded Miami-Dade’s first trans-led organization, Trans-Miami, while sustaining the work of her network organization, the National Alliance of Transgender Advocates and Leaders (NATAL). She speaks with universities as a guest lecturer, and is a consultant with government agencies such as the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. Aryah has received many awards and her work is featured in numerous national articles. She currently serves as the Deputy Director of Transgender Strategy Center

Cathy is Head of Positive Action, Global, at ViiV Healthcare and leads the team delivering strategic partnerships and grants and donations to community organisations supporting people living with or at risk of HIV.

In addition, Cathy is a trustee of The CIRCLE NGO, founded by Annie Lennox, the Circle works to tackle gender inequality, and provide support to disempowered women and girls across the world.

Prior to joining ViiV Healthcare, Cathy was CEO at Sentebale, Prince Harrys Foundation for Children in Africa, for 7 years and established the organisation as a leader in providing psychosocial support for adolescents living with HIV, in sub-Saharan Africa.

Previously Cathy was Fundraising and Communications Director at OXFAM GB, leading the global fundraising and brand strategies for OXFAM International.

Before joining OXFAM, Cathy had a successful commercial career spanning 20 years, with major global brands including The Walt Disney Company and Borders.

Cathy lives in Oxfordshire and has three daughters.

Kiyomi Fujikawa, Co-Director of the Third Wave Fund, is a Seattle-based, mixed-race queer trans femme who has been involved with movements to end gender- and state-based violence since 2001. Her political home is with queer and trans communities of color and organizing to prevent and respond to intimate partner violence. Kiyomi is currently on the board of Groundswell Fund, Funders Concerned About AIDS, and is a recent Grantmakers United for Trans Communities (GUTC) Leadership Development Fellow. She formerly was a Senior Program Associate at the Fund for Trans Generations at Borealis Philanthropy, and the Queer Network Program Coordinator at API Chaya.

Jaclyn Gilstrap (she/her) is a community connector, group facilitator, birth doula, and artist whose work is rooted in deep listening. Her background is in global reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, rape crisis support, ethical global engagement, and racial equity. She speaks Spanish, English and Azerbaijani. Jaclyn and her cat live in North Carolina with their beloved community and medium successful garden.