Summit Program Committee
This group of 10 fantastic FCAA members will serve on the 2019 AIDS Philanthropy Summit Committee, and will be responsible for reviewing the Call for Sessions submissions and providing guidance on the development of the overall Summit agenda.
FCAA is also partnering with Media Impact Funders, Kaiser Family Foundation, and Avert to guide this year’s focus on the role of media and messaging in the HIV response.
Learn more about the call for sessions process HERE.
Taryn Barker is the HIV Manager at the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation. Previously, she was the Director of Viral Hepatitis at the Clinton Health Access Initiative and has worked in HIV, SRH and international health in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean for the last ten years, after transitioning from the private sector.
Nina Blackwell joined the Firelight Foundation as Executive Director in July 2015. Nina comes to the Firelight Foundation from Humanity United, a leading human rights foundation, which is part of the Omidyar Group of philanthropies. As Senior Strategic Advisor and Head of External Affairs at Humanity United, Nina led the Communications, Policy, and Partnerships teams to support and leverage the organization’s strategic work in the prevention of conflict, mass atrocities and modern slavery. Prior to joining Humanity United, Nina spent several years at Yahoo!, Inc., where she led two global teams as Senior Director of Americas Communications and Senior Director of Global Public Affairs. In the latter role, Nina was responsible for developing global communications across a broad range of issues including privacy, data governance, online safety, human rights and freedom of expression. Nina joined Yahoo! after seven years working for U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, first as Special Advisor and then as Press Secretary and Spokesperson. Her work with Senator Clinton began in the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks and spanned the successful 2006 Senate reelection campaign and the 2008 Presidential Campaign.
Crystal D. Crawford is a program director at The California Wellness Foundation where she currently manages grantmaking related to diversity in the health professions; women of color at risk for, or living with, HIV, AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections; and employment for women who have been incarcerated. Her responsibilities include reviewing letters of interest, requesting and evaluating grant proposals, conducting site visits, making funding recommendations and monitoring active grants. Prior to joining Cal Wellness in August 2012, Crawford was CEO of the California Black Women’s Health Project (CABWHP), the only statewide organization solely devoted to improving the health of California’s black women and girls through policy, advocacy, education and outreach. Prior to her role as CEO, she was CABWHP’s director of public policy. Before working in the nonprofit, public interest sector, Crawford was a litigation associate with nationally renowned corporate law firms in Los Angeles, Boston and New York, as well as a public school teacher. Crawford is actively involved in the leadership of numerous civic and community organizations. She serves as vice chairperson of the Los Angeles County Public Health Commission and as a member of the Women’s Health Policy Council for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s Office of Women’s Health. She served on the executive committee of the Women’s Health Council of the statewide Office of Women’s Health (OWH) until its elimination in July 2012. She serves on the board of the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy at Dartmouth, which provides students with public policy and leadership development, academic instruction, training opportunities and internships. She is also an officer of her church in Inglewood, where she directs the provision of $50,000 annually in college scholarships to youth and young adults in South Los Angeles. In 1997, she founded and continues to direct College Conquerors, her church’s undergraduate pipeline program that provides youth with college preparation and counseling services. She previously served on the boards of the Tucker Foundation at Dartmouth College, Health Access California and SisterSong and on the advisory council for the California Breast Cancer Research Program. Crawford is the recipient of numerous awards including the 2009 Advocates’ Award from the Western Center on Law and Poverty and the 2012 PowerPAC Award from the Los Angeles African American Women’s Political Action Committee. Originally from Harlem, New York, Crawford earned her bachelor’s degree in history from Dartmouth College and law degree from New York University School of Law. She is admitted to the bar in California, New York and New Jersey.
Lindsey Dawson is Associate Director of HIV Policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation. Ms. Dawson’s work focuses on domestic HIV policy and particularly its intersection with the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Ms. Dawson also focuses on LGBT health policy issues related to access and coverage. Prior to joining the Foundation Ms. Dawson was a Policy Associate with The AIDS Institute, where she worked on domestic HIV policy and the ACA. Ms. Dawson holds a Masters in Public Policy from King’s College London and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Women’s Studies from Smith College.
Kiyomi Fujikawa is a Co-Director at the Third Wave Fund, an activist fund led by and for women of color, intersex, queer, and trans folks under 35 years old in the US. Third Wave supports gender and reproductive justice groups from the ground up with rapid response grants, long-term funding for emerging groups, and capacity building. Kiyomi 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, API Chaya, and Funders Concerned about AIDS. She is a recent Grantmakers United for Trans Communities (GUTC) Leadership Development Fellow, and formerly was a Senior Program Associate at the Fund for Trans Generations at Borealis Philanthropy.
Jason Grisell is the President and CEO of the Health Foundation of Greater Indianapolis. He most recently served as vice president of programs. Grisell came to the organization as an executive assistant in 2008. During his eight years in the programs department, he directed more than $15 million in grants and funding for health-related services to Indiana’s most vulnerable populations. Grisell obtained his MBA from WGU and holds his certificate in fundraising management from The Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at IUPUI. The Health Foundation of Greater Indianapolis’ mission is to serve the community’s most vulnerable citizens by funding health-related projects and organizations not easily supported by other means. Formed in 1985 from the sale of Indiana’s first non-profit health maintenance organization, Metro Health HMO, the foundation is home to the Indiana AIDS Fund and Gregory R. Powers Direct Emergency Financial Assistance Fund. True to its mission, The Health Foundation of Greater Indianapolis took a leadership role in prevention, education, and needle exchange services in 2015 in response to an exponential rise in newly diagnosed HIV cases in rural Indiana counties.
Karen Johnson is the Lead: Trusts and Foundations at Frontline AIDS. Karen joined Frontline AIDS as Global Campaign Manager in 2014 and led their Paradise or Persecution campaign for the decriminalisation of LGBT people. She now leads the organisation’s efforts to build and maintain relationships with Trusts and Foundations to advance the strategic objectives of the Alliance. Previously, Karen spent over 11 years at Amnesty International’s Secretariat in London and led the global campaign on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, most specifically for universal ratification of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on ESC Rights.
Charlene Leach has more than 20 years of combined experience as a program developer, manager, administrator and policy maker. Previous work experience includes extensive involvement in diverse areas such as public health, substance abuse treatment and prevention, community development, and education and training. As an administrator, her responsibilities have included marketing, program development, proposal development, technical assistance, contract negotiation, project management, evaluation, fiscal management, and faith-based initiatives. Ms. Leach currently serves as Executive Director of PFUND Foundation, where they invest in BOLD leaders so that LGBT communities in the upper Midwest can thrive. Prior to PFUND, she served as Executive Director at Fredericksburg Area HIV/AIDS Support Service, an organization that addresses the unique HIV prevention and care needs of rural and suburban populations in Virginia. She has more than twelve years experience in program design and implementation, major donor and foundation fundraising, corporate sponsorship, strategic planning, capacity building, and staff and board development. She has worked extensively in the LGBT adolescent field and in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, with the bulk of that work occurring within communities of color or had a focus on communities of color. Ms. Leach served as a member of the training staff at Hetrick-Martin Institute in New York, and also served as Deputy Director at the National Youth Advocacy Coalition, the only national organization that advocated for and with LGBT young people.
Dr. Shanell L. McGoy is a Senior Manager, Public Affairs at Gilead where she oversees the programmatic efforts of the Gilead COMPASS InitiativeTM. Prior to joining Gilead, Shanell was the Director of HIV/STD at the Tennessee Department of Health from 2013-2018 where she led state and federal resources to support a comprehensive HIV/STD service delivery system throughout Tennessee. Shanell has more than 15 years of public health experience in both rural and urban areas across the country. She has worked in community based organizations, local, state, and federal government public health agencies. She received a B.A. in Comparative Women’s Studies from Spelman College and a MPH in Community Health Sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health. She also received a Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Following her doctoral studies, Dr. McGoy completed a Post-Doctoral Health Policy Leadership Fellowship at The Satcher Health Leadership Institute, Morehouse School of Medicine. She previously served on the Boards of the Southern AIDS Coalition (SAC) and NASTAD.
Dr. Cedric Pulliam is currently a 2019 Health Equity Fellow at the Black AIDS Institute in Los Angeles, California. Dr. Pulliam recently completed a 10-year federal government career with his last role being the Senior Human Rights and Key Populations Advisor at PEPAR (U.S. Department of State) fostering partnerships and working with civil society organizations, and engaging work within the PEPFAR HBCU Global Health Consortium and enhancing the continued key populations and LGBTI programming throughout PEPFAR. Dr. Pulliam has worked in the domestic HIV response for ten years, he currently serves as the Community Liaison and HIV Outreach and Prevention Volunteer at the Gay Men’s Health Collaborative (GMHC). For Virginia advocacy, Cedric co-founded the Ending the Criminalization of HIV and Overincarceration in Virginia Coalition (ECHO VA Coalition). He previously served on the Alexandria Commission on HIV/AIDS and during his tenure he created and implemented the first Regional HIV/AIDS Policy and Planning Summit, which will return November 15, 2019. Cedric supports organizations like Safe Space NOVA, Gay Professional Men of Color (GPMC), and the Brotherhood in Advocacy Leadership Development Retreat (BALR). Cedric launched his trauma curriculum and training entitled ‘Shifting Your Shade’ in February 2019 to empower community to heal, grow, and thrive by affirming and treating others positively. He recently completed his doctoral studies in Health and Medical Psychology with a focus on Psychosocial and Sexual Effects of Young Men who have Sex with Men of Color who take PrEP and nPEP ages 16-24 at Northcentral University. He earned master’s degrees from Central European University and Georgetown University and bachelor’s degree from Elon University. He serves on the board of Sister Love, Inc, International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa International Steering Committee, and the Center for International Peace and Reconciliation.