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Members & Staff

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Members

The Council may have up to 25 members, including the Chair. Members and the chair are selected by the Secretary from authorities with particular expertise in, or knowledge of, matters concerning HIV and AIDS. In addition, the Council includes ex officio members from relevant HHS components as deemed appropriate by the Secretary or designee.

Council members are invited to serve for overlapping terms of up to four years; terms are contingent upon the authorized continuation of the Council. A member can serve after the expiration of their term until their successor has taken office and/or until notified in writing that their term has ended or expired, but no longer than 180 days.

Nancy Mahon

Nancy Mahon, JD
PACHA Chairperson – Sworn in December 2, 2011

Senior Vice President, M·A·C Cosmetics
Global Executive Director, M·A·C AIDS Fund

As a senior vice president at M•A•C and Global Executive Director of the M•A•C AIDS Fund, Nancy serves as a member of the brand’s senior management team while overseeing the strategic direction and day-to-day operation of the M•A•C AIDS Fund. Under Nancy’s leadership, the Fund has further refined and enhanced its giving, taking on larger grant initiatives including the Caribbean Initiative, while at the same time continuing to fund the grassroots service-based charities that the Fund has supported in the past. Currently, the Fund gives away over $18 million annually throughout the world particularly the 65 countries in which M•A•C has affiliates.

Darrell P. Wheeler, PhD, MPH, ACSW

Darrell P. Wheeler, PhD, MPH, ACSW
PACHA Vice-Chair

Dean and Professor School of Social Welfare
Vice Provost for Public Engagement
University at Albany – State University at Albany
Albany, New York

Wheeler is president of the National Association of Social Workers and since July 2015 is Vice Provost for Public Engagement and Dean of Social Welfare of the University at Albany - SUNY.  Prior to his current position, Wheeler held academic positions as dean of Loyola University Chicago’s School of Social Work; associate dean for research and community partnerships at the Hunter College School of Social Work; and University of North Carolina Greensboro.

Wheeler is an educator and researcher who is one of the leading social work experts on HIV prevention and intervention in the African-American gay, bisexual, and transgender communities.  He is author and co-author of many articles, book chapters and monographs on AIDS. His work has been funded by key health organizations, including the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American International Health Alliance. Recent research studies include HPTN073 protocol chair; co-chair for HPTN061 (NIH sponsored) and Principal Investigator for B-ME (CDC sponsored).  His work has demonstrated a deep understanding of social work practice methods and the social work community. Wheeler has used research to advance the use of data and evidence in developing innovative programs and policy initiatives.

He was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and serves on the Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council.  Wheeler was a recipient of a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Primary Health Care Policy Fellow in; a Henry and Lucy Moses Fellow at Hunter College in; a Martin Luther King Jr. Service Award winner at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro.  In 2015, he was named among the 30 most influential social workers alive today.

Wheeler earned his doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh in 1992, a master’s degree in public health at the University of Pittsburgh in 1990, a master in social work from Howard University in 1988, and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Cornell College in 1981. 

Dr. Ada Adimora

Ada Adimora, MD, MPH

Professor, School of Medicine, Professor of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Dr. Adaora Adimora is a physician-epidemiologist with specialty training and extensive clinical experience in infectious diseases, particularly HIV, both in NC and NYC. She received her medical degree from the Yale University School of Medicine and completed specialty training at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, NY. Prior to coming to UNC, she served as Assistant Chief for Science of the NC Health Department's Communicable Disease Control Section. Dr. Adimora has published the first national data on concurrent partnerships in U.S. women in the National Survey of Family Growth and a conceptual analysis of contextual factors that promote concurrent sexual partnerships among African Americans. She is completing the analysis of a population-based case-control study of newly-reported heterosexually acquired HIV among African Americans in North Carolina, with an emphasis on the rural, eastern region of the state. Dr. Adimora is the recipient of a career development award for analysis of data on concurrent sexual partnerships.

A fellow of the American College of Physicians and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), she Chairs the Women at Risk Committee for the NIH’s HIV Prevention Trials Network Women at Risk Committee and is Vice Chair of the HIV Medicine Association. She also serves on the US Department of Health and Human Services Antiretroviral Treatment Guidelines Panel, the editorial board of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, and the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Advisory Council. Dr. Adimora received her MD from Yale and MPH in epidemiology from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She is board certified in internal medicine and infectious diseases. In 2009 The Root (a publication of the Washington Post Company) named Dr. Adimora to its inaugural list of The Root 100, its recognition of “established and emerging African American leaders who are making extraordinary contributions.”

Jeffrey S. Akman

Jeffrey S. Akman, MD

Vice President for Health Affairs, George Washington University
Dean, GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Washington, D.C.

As the leader of the eleventh oldest medical school in the nation, Dr. Jeffrey Akman has articulated a bold vision for the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) to be involved in the eradication of HIV/AIDS through research, community partnerships and the development of an innovative clinical public health curriculum for medical students and physicians in training.

Dr. Akman’s leadership in HIV/AIDS dates back to the beginning of the epidemic where, as a psychiatric physician, he began treating patients with HIV/AIDS in 1983. He was part of a handful of physicians who created the field of HIV/AIDS psychiatry and served on the American Psychiatric Association’s Commission on AIDS.  Through funding by the NIH/NIMH and as President of the National Lesbian and Gay Health Association he helped lead national efforts related to HIV/AIDS education for health professionals.

His efforts related to HIV/AIDS in the District of Columbia are extensive and have included service on the Mayor of the District of Columbia’s Commission on HIV/AIDS and on multiple nonprofit boards including Whitman Walker Health (where he served as President). He serves as a member of the Oversight Committee of the NIH-funded District of Columbia Center for AIDS Research and as a founding board member of the GW SMHS Rodham Institute, whose mission is dedicated to achieving health equity in the Washington, DC community.  

Oliver Clyde Allen, III

Oliver Clyde Allen, III

Presiding Bishop, United Progressive Pentecostal Fellowship of Churches
Atlanta, Georgia

Oliver Clyde Allen, III is a human rights activist, national LGBT community leader, Social Justice advocate and the Presiding Bishop of the United Progressive Pentecostal Fellowship of Churches. He oversees senior pastors, ministers, churches and faith-based organizations throughout the United States and abroad committed to a theology of social justice. He is the Senior Pastor and Founder of the Vision Church of Atlanta. Bishop Allen is the Executive Director of The Vision Community Foundation Inc., a non-profit organization created to address socioeconomic and health gaps in the greater Atlanta community. The Vision Community Foundation annually feeds over 20,000 families and provides HIV/AIDS counseling, testing and access to care. Bishop Allen has worked with AIDS Survival Project, AID Atlanta and AID Gwinnett. He has been honored by a host of community and national groups including the Georgia House of Representatives in 2012.

In 2014, Bishop Allen was inducted into the prestigious Martin Luther King Jr. International Board of Preachers of Morehouse College. As a strong proponent for social and economic justice, he created and hosted a national Economic and Business Conference for LGBT Entrepreneurs in conjunction with the efforts of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Bishop Allen served as a regional spokesperson for the National Black Justice Coalition LGBT Economic Empowerment Tour for communities of color. He has worked closely with the U.S. Small Business Administration to provide support to LGBT and other minority entrepreneurs in the community.

In April 2015, the Georgia District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration awarded Bishop Allen the 2015 LGBT Business Champion of the Year Award for his strong advocacy for minority business initiatives and development. Bishop Allen was invited by the White House and the Obama Administration to participate in the annual White House Easter Breakfast.

Bishop Allen was born in Los Angeles, California. He studied at Morgan State University, Morehouse College, and Harvard University-Harvard Extension School where he majored in Philosophy and Religion. He is married to his life-partner, Mr. Rashad Burgess of Chicago, Illinois. They are the proud fathers of 2 beautiful children, Joshua and Caylee. In 2013, Bishop Allen and his family made history by being the first Same Gender Loving couple to be selected as one of Ebony Magazine’s “top 10 Coolest Black Families” in America.

Lucy A. Bradley-Springer

Lucy A. Bradley-Springer, PhD, RN, ACRN, FAAN

Editor, Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (JANAC)
Associate Professor Emerita, University of Colorado Denver

Lucy Bradley-Springer, PhD, RN, ACRN, FAAN, is an Associate Professor Emerita at the University of Colorado Denver where she was the Principal Investigator and Director of the Mountain Plains AIDS Education and Training Center (1999-2015). She is the editor of the Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (JANAC), has worked in the area of HIV infection since 1988, and has developed expertise in HIV prevention, retention in care, and teaching healthcare providers about HIV. Dr. Bradley-Springer is a Vietnam-era veteran of the U.S. Air Force Nurse Corps, a past president of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC), a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (AAN), and a member of the International Academy of Nurse Editors (INANE).

Gina M. Brown

Gina M. Brown, MSW

Program Associate
Institute of Women and Ethnics Studies

Gina Brown is a Program Associate for the Institute of Women and Ethnics Studies where she conducts targeted outreach, HIV testing, and education with Black women at risk for HIV. Prior, Gina Brown was the Planning Council Coordinator at the New Orleans Regional AIDS Planning Council. Gina has worked in the field of HIV for 12 years and has been living with HIV for 20 years. Gina graduated Magna Cum Laude from Southern University at New Orleans, with a Bachelor of Social Work and a minor in History in 2011 and received her Master’s degree in 2012. Gina is the past-VP of the School of Social Works’ service organization, and Historian of Psi Phi SUNO’s chapter of Phi Alpha Social Work Honors Society. Gina has served on numerous boards and committees. Gina is a Public Speaker and Community Advocate. Gina truly believes in service work and has made it her life’s mission to help the broader community gain a higher level of health literacy.

Ulysses W. Burley III

Ulysses W. Burley III, MD, MPH

HIV and AIDS Consultant
Chicago, Illinois

Dr. Ulysses W. Burley III studied at Morehouse College and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (FSM). Ulysses previously held an associate position at Northwestern University FSM Allergy, Asthma and Immunology clinical research unit and a position as Program Director for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Strategy on HIV/AIDS. He now operates as an independent HIV and AIDS consultant.

Although his primary training is in scientific research and clinical medicine, Ulysses has dedicated much of his time to a vocation of social justice advocacy through the Church and community. His primary work with faith groups has been in the area of HIV and AIDS awareness, but also includes mass incarceration, gender and racial justice, food security, and peace in the Middle East. He has been a guest at both the White House and United Nations for consultations on the intersections of faith and HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health rights, respectively. Ulysses has also been recognized by the National Minority Quality Forum as top 40 under 40 in minority health for his work in faith and HIV in communities of color. Ulysses served as the ELCA Executive Committee member to the World Council of Churches (WCC), holding positions on the WCC Gender Advisory Group and Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance’s (EAA) Access to HIV/AIDS Treatment Working Group.

He is also a monthly contributor to the online magazine, “The Salt Collective” and has published writings in both medical science and advocacy. When Ulysses is not working or traveling, he serves as a life on life mentor for fatherless teens in Chicago with GRIP Outreach for Youth Program, where he is a member of their Board of Directors.

Nicholas Carlisle, JD

Nicholas Carlisle, JD

Executive Director
Southern AIDS Coalition
Birmingham, Alabama

Nic Carlisle is the executive director of the Southern AIDS Coalition.  He has worked as an advocate for people living with HIV/AIDS, both domestically and internationally, for more than a decade.  Upon graduating magna cum laude from the University of Alabama School of Law in 2006, he founded Alabama’s first legal program for people living with HIV/AIDS.  He represented over 300 Alabamians during his four years with the program.

In 2010, Nic joined the United States Peace Corps, where he designed programs to empower women, youth, and disenfranchised ethnic minorities affected by HIV in Eastern Europe.  His passion for grassroots advocacy around HIV/AIDS in the U.S. South, however, brought him back home to Alabama as the director of policy and advocacy at AIDS Alabama. Nic also previously served as the executive director of Thrive Alabama, a federally funded HIV primary care clinic in North Alabama. 

During his time in the field, Nic has contributed to several local and national publications, including Positively Empowered: A Legal Guide for People Living with HIV/AIDS, a substantial portion of the update to the Southern States Manifesto in 2012, and the policy recommendations section of the Alabama Department of Public Health’s Alabama State Plan: Implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy. 

Vignetta Charles

Vignetta Charles, Ph.D.

Chief Science Officer, ETR Associates

Dr. Vignetta Charles is currently serving as Chief Science Officer at ETR Associates, focused on the design of behavioral health interventions related to HIV/AIDS, sexual health, and mental health. Before joining ETR, Dr. Charles was Senior Vice President at AIDS United overseeing strategic grant making and capacity building programs. She is an alumna of the University of California at Berkeley, the Harvard School of Public Health, and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her work experience is diverse and has led to the acquisition of a broad range of skills: conducting scholarly inquiry at academic institutions, evaluating national teen pregnancy prevention programs, assessing the effectiveness of black women’s health interventions in Boston, serving as the national health educator for the Commonwealth of Dominica, West Indies, initiating a teen pregnancy prevention portfolio for the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and coordinating prevention and youth development programs in both San Francisco and Oakland, California. Dr. Charles currently serves on the Presidential Advisory Council for HIV/AIDS where she advises the Administration and Health and Human Services on pressing issues related to ending the HIV/AIDS pandemic. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE) and the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS).

Cecilia Chung

Cecilia Chung

Senior Strategist, Transgender Law Center

Cecilia Chung is nationally recognized as a civil rights leader, advocating for HIV/AIDS awareness and care, LGBT equality, social justice and human rights. She is currently a Health Commissioner in San Francisco where she is the first trans woman appointed to the position by Mayor Ed Lee. Cecilia was also the first trans woman and first person living openly with HIV elected Chair to the San Francisco Human Rights Commission where she has served for over seven years. An immigrant from Hong Kong, Cecilia has lived in San Francisco for over 20 years where she has worked locally and internationally to advance equality and justice. During that time, she has broken ground in a number of ways including: being the first transgender woman and first Asian to be elected to lead the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Celebration; the first transgender woman and first person living openly with HIV to Chair the San Francisco Human Rights Commission; and, an architect of the nation’s most ambitious publicly funded program addressing economic justice within the transgender community.

For almost two decades, she has worked to advance equality and justice both locally and internationally. In 1994 she was a member of the Transgender Discrimination Taskforce, which released a groundbreaking report by the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, documenting widespread discrimination against trans people. The report led the City to adopt many pioneering anti-discrimination ordinances and policies. She is the former Deputy Director of the Transgender Law Center, has also served on a number of planning bodies, including the San Francisco HIV Health Services Planning Council, and was a trainer of Community Planning for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). In 2001, she was elected President of the Board of Directors of San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Celebration, becoming the first Asian and first trans gender women to hold the position, and she lead the Board to a new standard of inclusion and excellence. In 2004, as a founding producer of Trans March, she helped organize one of the world’s largest annual trans events.

Cecilia has dedicated herself to ending stigma, discrimination, and violence in all communities.

William H. Collier

William H. Collier

Head North America
ViiV Healthcare, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina

Bill Collier is Head of ViiV Healthcare North America, responsible for the businesses in the USA, Puerto Rico and Canada. Bill has held this position since the creation of ViiV Healthcare in 2009 during which time he helped set up Positive Action Southern Initiative - a collaborative, community-focused program that supports HIV programs and services for underserved populations in the southern region of the United States.

Prior to this, Bill held several senior commercial roles for GlaxoSmithKline in the USA. In the late 1990’s, Bill was Area Director for GlaxoWellcome Sub-Saharan Africa operations based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Earlier in his career, Bill held a number of Sales and Marketing positions for Beecham Pharmaceuticals UK and also worked in Global Commercial Development for Wellcome UK.

Bill gained a BSc Hons in Mathematics and Management Sciences from Manchester University, UK. Originally from the UK, Bill is now a citizen of the USA and currently lives in Philadelphia, PA.

Michelle Collins-Ogle

Michelle Collins-Ogle, MD, FAAP, AAHIVS

Director, Infectious Diseases
Warren-Vance Community Health Center, Inc.
Henderson, North Carolina

Dr. Collins-Ogle is a Clinical Infectious Disease Specialist who has dedicated the majority of her career to providing comprehensive medical care to infants, children, adolescents and adults living with HIV / AIDS. She also has a special interest and training in sexually transmitted infections in children and adolescents while working in Detroit, Michigan and North Carolina as well. While completing her Fellowship in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Dr. Collins-Ogle published on the epidemic of Congenital Syphilis and atypical presentations in infants outside the newborn period. She also partnered with adult Infectious Disease Physicians at the Detroit Medical Center to establish the first HIV clinic which provided care for infants and mothers infected with HIV. Dr. Collins-Ogle relocated to North Carolina where she joined the NC Children’s and Adults’ Clinical Research Foundation in 2002. As the Principal Investigator for the Gardisil Vaccine in NC, Dr. Collins-Ogle was instrumental in developing protocols for clinical trials in pediatric and adolescent males and females living in rural as well as more urban areas of the state. Dr. Collins-Ogle is currently the Medical Director of the Northern Outreach Clinic which provides comprehensive medical care for adolescents and adults living with HIV/AIDS in the most rural, isolated communities in the state. Dr. Collins-Ogle continues to push the envelope in the rural community as the only HIV provider to establish free HIV and Syphilis screening in rural county jails since 2005. Dr. Collins-Ogle and her team is expanding services to provide screening and treatment for persons dually infected with Hepatitis C as well as Hep C mono infection.

Dr. Collins-Ogle passionately advocates for her patients living in rural, indigent isolated areas of North Carolina because she holds the belief that these patients deserve the same access to quality medical care as those living in urban areas. She is actively expanding the HIV practice to provide a warm, non-judgmental and welcoming environment for transgender people living with HIV in rural NC. Providing hormone therapy and coordinated HIV care for the transgender population has been a welcomed service.

Kevin Cranston, MDiv

Kevin Cranston, MDiv

Assistant Commissioner
Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH)
Director
MDPH Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences
Boston, Massachusetts

Kevin Cranston is Assistant Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) and Director of the MDPH Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences.  Kevin previously served as the Director of the MDPH HIV/AIDS Bureau and was HIV/AIDS Program Director at the Massachusetts Department of Education.  Prior to government work, Kevin was an adolescent HIV prevention specialist at The Children's Hospital, Boston. He is past Chair of the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) and served as a technical advisor to national, state, and provincial AIDS control programs in Nigeria, Brazil, and South Africa.  Kevin earned his Master of Divinity degree at Harvard University.  Kevin serves as a member of the Massachusetts Special Legislative Commission on LGBT Aging.

Yvette Flunder

Yvette Flunder, D. Min.

Founder and Senior Pastor, City of Refuge United Church of Christ
Presiding Bishop, The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries
Oakland, California

Rev. Dr. Yvette A. Flunder is an unapologetic disciple and proponent of the radically inclusive love of Jesus Christ, who has raised her voice for justice from the church house to the White House and steps of the Supreme Court. She is a graduate of the Certificate of Ministry Studies and Master of Arts programs at Pacific School of Religion, and she received her Doctor of Ministry degree from San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo, CA.

In June 2003 Rev. Dr. Flunder was consecrated Presiding Bishop of The Fellowship (founded in 2000 and renamed The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries in 2011), a multi-denominational coalition of over 100 primarily African American Christian leaders and laity representing churches and faith-based organizations from all parts of the United States, and extending to Mexico, three countries in Africa and most recently, Asia. TFAM is in covenantal relationship with The United Church of Christ, The Metropolitan Community Church and The Centers for Spiritual Living.

Responding to the needs of the AIDS epidemic, Bishop Flunder and her staff opened Hazard-Ashley House and Walker House in Oakland and Restoration House in San Francisco through the Ark of Refuge, Inc., a non-profit agency which provided housing, direct services, education and training for persons affected by HIV/AIDS in the Bay Area, throughout the USA and in three countries in Africa.  The Ark of Refuge transitioned into the Y. A. Flunder Foundation which continues the work of social justice exemplified through service and public advocacy, including collaborative partnerships to support the Mother of Peace Orphanage in Mutoko, Zimbabwe.

Grissel Granados

Grissel Granados, M.S.W.

Project Coordinator
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Grissel Granados received a Masters in Social Work at the University of Southern California. She is currently the HIV & STI Testing Coordinator in the Risk Reduction Program at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Granados works primarily with young gay and bisexual men and transgender youth of color. She is part of the Los Angeles County Commission on HIV and co-chairs the Standards and Best Practices committee and advises and educates communities and institutions on issues related to youth and the HIV response locally and internationally. She also advocates for comprehensive sex health education for youth and emphasizes the need to discuss sexuality with a sex-positive approach. Granados was born and infected with HIV in Mexico City and has been positive her entire life.

Gabriel Maldonado

Gabriel Maldonado, MBA

Executive Director and CEO, TruEvolution
Riverside, California

Gabriel Maldonado is the Executive Director and CEO of TruEvolution -- an LGBTQ justice and Ryan White-funded HIV/AIDS service organization serving Riverside and San Bernardino counties in California. Gabriel works with high-risk populations through community organizing efforts, prevention services, policy advocacy and improving access to care for those living with HIV/AIDS. Gabriel concentrates his efforts on promoting health equity for underserved youth populations and addressing social determinants of health by driving community-informed policies at the local and federal level.

Originally from Compton, Gabriel has been a community organizer for almost 10-years and now serves—openly as an Afro-Latino gay man living with HIV—as a city commissioner, Vice-Chair of the Ryan White HIV Planning Council for the Inland Empire Transitional Grant Area (TGA). He is a member of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s Board of Directors and was appointed onto the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS where he now serves as Co-Chair of the Disparities Committee.

Ligia Peralta

Ligia Peralta, M.D., FAAP, FSAHM, AAHIVS

President and CEO, Casa Ruben Foundation
Commissioner, Maryland Health Care Commission

Ligia Peralta, M.D., FAAP, FSAHM, AAHIVS is a clinician and scientist with extensive research expertise in the areas of HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections and health disparities. Dr. Peralta is at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Program in Innovation and Global Leadership. She has led innovative genomics research on women’s health and HIV transmission and established international HIV/AIDS clinical and research centers.

Dr. Peralta is a retired tenured Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Epidemiology who served as Chief of the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. She is board certified in both Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. She holds certification from the American Academy of HIV Medicine and serves as its representative to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. She has served as Principal Investigator for over 30 NIH and CDC-funded grants and has published in various scientific journals, including PLOS, Journal of General Virology, International Journal of Gynecology and Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Dr. Peralta has worked with the Department of State in Africa, Caribbean and the Far East (United Arab Emirates) in the development of health care programs. In 2011, she was inducted to the Maryland Hall of Fame and was appointed by the Governor of Maryland to the state Health Care Commission.

Harlan Pruden

Harlan Pruden

Two-Spirit Journal
Vancouver, BC Canada

Harlan Pruden (First Nation Cree/nēhiyaw) Ph.D student at the University of British Columbia's Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program and is also the Managing Editor of TwoSpiritJournal.com, an interactive multi-platform Two-Spirit media/news site. Harlan works with the Two-Spirit (LGBT Native) community locally, nationally and internationally. Harlan is a co-founder and former Director of the NorthEast Two Spirit Society. Harlan serves as the principal Two-Spirit consultant to the Tribal Training and Technical Assistance Center. Harlan also serves as an Honorary Committee Member of the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services at the University of Alberta, Canada, and in the spring of 2013, Harlan was appointed to be an American representative to the International Indigenous Peoples Working Group on HIV/AIDS.

Scott A. Schoettes

Scott A. Schoettes, JD

HIV Project Director/Senior Attorney
Lambda Legal
Chicago, Illinois

Scott A. Schoettes, who is openly HIV-positive, is the HIV Project Director at Lambda Legal, the oldest and largest national legal organization dedicated to making the case for equality on behalf of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and people living with HIV, through impact litigation, education and policy work.

Schoettes primarily litigates impact cases involving the discriminatory denial of employment, housing or access to healthcare based on a person’s HIV status, as well as cases involving the privacy and confidential rights of people living with HIV.  He also does a significant amount of amicus work on issues of import to people living with HIV, most notably co-authoring an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court’s review of the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.  On the policy side, Schoettes was the point-person for Lambda Legal's work on the repeal of the HIV travel ban, advocates for better policies regarding blood and organ donations by gay and bisexual men, and is working on the reform of laws criminalizing conduct based on HIV status.  He has presented on various topics related to HIV discrimination at forums across the country, including the White House.

Schoettes graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center and clerked for the Hon. J. Frederick Motz in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.  Before joining Lambda Legal as the HIV Project Staff Attorney in 2007, Schoettes spent four years litigating at Latham & Watkins in Chicago.

Elizabeth Styffe

Elizabeth Styffe, RN, MN

Director, HIV/AIDS ad Orphan Care Initiatives Saddleback Valley Community Church

Elizabeth Styffe is the co-founder of the HIV&AIDS Initiative at Saddleback Church with Kay Warren and the Interim Director of the Global HIV&AIDS Initiative. She currently directs the Rwanda Healthcare Initiative. She launched and directs the Orphan Care Initiatives at Saddleback Church, which focuses on equipping churches locally and globally to end the orphan crisis.

An author and international speaker, Elizabeth combines her background in pediatric nursing, loss, grief and trauma with a passion to see the church at the center of HIV and orphan care. Having received a BSN from Biola University and Master’s Degree in Nursing from UCLA, she has helped develop robust programs and tools for churches across the globe and is helping churches launch effective ministries which are church-initiated with an emphasis on permanency as the right of every child.

Patrick S. Sullivan, PhD, DVM

Patrick S. Sullivan, PhD, DVM

Professor
Rollins School of Public Health
Atlanta, Georgia

Dr. Sullivan has over 20 years of experience in HIV epidemiology, prevention, and behavioral surveillance in the United States and in international settings. He worked in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 12 years, including service as a Branch Chief and Acting Deputy Division Director in the Division of HIV AIDS Prevention. He also has experience in design and oversight of biomedical prevention trials, having served as the Associate Director of Scientific Support for the NIH-funded HIV Vaccine Trials Network.

He is currently the PI of NIH-supported research grants to explain black/white disparities in HIV treatment outcomes among MSM, to develop mobile apps to increase uptake of HIV prevention services by MSM, and to pilot an HIV prevention package for MSM in South Africa.  He is the Principal Scientist of AIDSVu.org, an online mapping resource for HIV surveillance and related data. He also serves as Co-Director of the Emory CFAR's Prevention Sciences Core.

Mildred Williamson

Mildred Williamson, PhD, MSW

Director, Research and Regulatory Affairs
Cook County Health and Hospitals System
Chicago, Illinois

Mildred Williamson, PhD, MSW, has spent a lifetime in public service with human rights/social justice as her passion. She has more than twenty years of experience in developing and leading public health safety net programs for vulnerable populations in need of comprehensive health care and human services. She is currently Director of Research & Regulatory Affairs for the Cook County Health & Hospitals System, and an adjunct instructor at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health (UIC-SPH).

She served as HIV/AIDS Section Chief for the Illinois Department of Public Health from 2008-2015 with responsibility for administering HIV prevention, surveillance and comprehensive service programs, statewide. Dr. Williamson began her public health career at Cook County Hospital in 1989 as the first administrator of the Women & Children HIV Program, which today, is part of the Ruth M. Rothstein CORE Center - the largest provider of comprehensive HIV services in the Midwest. She went on to administer and manage community-based primary care and HIV programs in Cook County’s ambulatory health centers, and in 1998 helped to launch “Project Brotherhood: A Black Men’s Clinic,” while serving as administrator for Woodlawn Health Center in Chicago.

Mildred Williamson has been principal investigator for several grants; served as program consultant and grant application reviewer for several health and human service initiatives; and as adjunct faculty and field placement supervisor with graduate and undergraduate students.  Additionally, she has served on boards of several local non-profit organizations and some national advisory groups, including NIH/NIAID and CDC/HRSA Advisory Councils.  She was one of the founding members of AIDS Alliance for Children Youth & Families, a national organization that advocated for women, children, youth and families living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.  She is currently a member of the National Stakeholders Group for the Elimination of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV in the US, and the DHHS Region V Health Equity Council.

Dr. Williamson completed requirements for her Master’s degree in Social Work in 1989 and her doctorate in Social Work in 2000 at the School of Social Service Administration/University of Chicago.

Staff

Kaye Hayes

Kaye Hayes, MPA

Executive Director
Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

 Before her appointment with PACHA, Ms. Hayes served as the Acting Deputy Director and Senior Advisor for Policy for the Office on Women’s Health (OWH) within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health. Among her responsibilities at OWH were the formula­tion of budget, performance, and policy initiatives for the office, as well as management improvement and strategic planning. Prior to joining the OWH staff, Ms. Hayes served as Special Assistant to then-Assistant Secretary for Health and Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher. In this capacity, Ms. Hayes worked on many health policy initiatives and managed the immediate personal staff for Dr. Satcher. She was a Policy Advisor with the Surgeon General as a member of the health and medical team to assess public healthand medical needs after the U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. She also has worked as the Extramural Community Liaison for the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where she developed and strengthened partnerships with national, State, and local organizations, including business, labor, faith community, entertainment, and other nontraditional health partnerships. While at CDC, her career included assignments with CNN Medical News as a producer, where she produced news stories on “Innovative Campus Approaches to HIV/AIDS Education” and health research on other topics for medical news stories. Ms. Hayes also worked with the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues, a legislative service organization composed of members of Congress and co-chaired by Representatives Patricia Schroeder and Olympia Snowe, where she worked on a host of health policy initiatives, including the Women’s Health Equity Act and health care reform.

Ms. Hayes received a bachelor’s degree in rhetoric and communication studies from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree in public administration from Georgia State University, with a concentration in strategic management and human resource management. While in graduate school, she was selected as a Presidential Management Fellow and completed her 2-year assignment at CDC, National AIDS Information and Education Program.

Kaye Hayes

Caroline Talev, MPA

Public Health Analyst
Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

As a Public Health Analyst for the Office of HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Policy, Ms. Talev serves as the committee manager for the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA). In this capacity, she has assisted with the joint PACHA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Health Resources and Services Administration Advisory Committee on HIV, Viral Hepatitis, and STD Prevention and Care HIV Disclosure Summit, the dissemination of PACHA’S Achieving an AIDS-Free Generation report, and assisting with the White House’s Office of National AIDS Policy special task force on Employment and People Living with HIV/AIDS. Prior to her role with PACHA, Ms. Talev interned at the Office on Women’s Health, where she focused on strategic planning and employee satisfaction issues. During her graduate program, she was a Policy Fellow at the American Association of University Women, a national grassroots organization to improve the lives of women and their families. Additionally, she had the exciting opportunity to be an advocacy intern at All Women’s Action Society (AWAM) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. At AWAM, she focused on policy issues striving for a democratic and equitable society where women are free from all forms of violence and discrimination.

Ms. Talev received her bachelor’s in arts degree from the University of Central Florida and her master’s in public administration degree from American University.

Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS

About PACHA Charter Members & Staff Subcommittees

Last revised: 09/07/2016

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