Michael Kaplan, AIDS United President & CEO.
The AIDS United Board of Trustees has elected four new members to join the Board, bringing the total number of Trustees to 18. AIDS United works through strategic grantmaking, capacity building, formative research and policy to end the AIDS epidemic within the United States.
The new trustees broaden the representation of the diverse communities affected and infected by HIV and being a broad depth of experience in treatment access, the Affordable Care Act, HIV service delivery, policy, advocacy, and community relations. The cohort of nominees was elected at the June 9 meeting of AIDS United’s Board of Trustees, and will serve terms through June 2017. New Trustees elected were:
Robert “Bobby” Hilliard, Jr. is the President of Harmony Health Plan of Illinois, a subsidiary of WellCare Health Plans, Inc., where he oversees a health plan with 140,000 Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries. Prior to joining WellCare, Dr. Hilliard was the Chief Operating Officer for United Healthcare’s Community Plan in Texas.
John Hoffman is the Senior Director of Health Policy, Advocacy & Quality for the Strategic Customer Group at J&J North American Pharmaceuticals. His 27 years of broad experience at J&J includes Finance, Managed Care Marketing, e-Business and Corporate Strategy. Currently his responsibilities at J&J include ensuring unencumbered access to all J&J NA Pharma products for patients and physicians.
Naina Khanna is Executive Director for Positive Women’s Network – USA, a national organization that prepares and supports women living with HIV to be involved in all levels of policy and decision-making by: eliminating stigma, building leadership, mobilizing advocates, and changing policy. Khanna serves on the Steering Committee for the 30 for 30 Campaign as well as the US People Living with HIV (PLHIV) Caucus, as a member of the Women’s Research Initiative (WRI), and has served on President Obama’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) since February 2010.
Randall Russell serves as CEO of Lifelong, a Seattle, Washington–based AIDS service organization. He has served in the HIV community for 30 years as a volunteer, a leader of AIDS Service Organizations, an advocate, and a technical assistance provider for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Ryan White program, and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) special needs housing program.
“We are excited about the energy and inspiration that Bobby, John, Naina and Randy bring to AIDS United, and know that their dedication and enthusiasm will fit in perfectly with that of our current Trustees as we all move full speed ahead to realizing our mission of ending the AIDS epidemic in the United States,” said Michael Kaplan, AIDS United President & CEO.
Born out of the merger of the National AIDS Fund and AIDS Action in late 2010, AIDS United’s mission is to end the AIDS epidemic in the United States, through strategic grantmaking, capacity building, formative research and policy. AIDS United works to ensure access to life-saving HIV/AIDS care and prevention services and to advance sound HIV/AIDS related policy for U.S. populations and communities most impacted by the epidemic.
To date, the strategic grantmaking initiatives have directly funded more than $85.8 million to local communities, and have leveraged more than $110 million in additional investments for programs that include, but are not limited to, HIV prevention, access to care, capacity-building, harm reduction, and advocacy.
