Our team & board

We exist to amplify the voices of people living with and vulnerable to HIV until their needs and experiences are embedded in our national consciousness.

Meet the people turning this vision into reality.

Our team

Our board

Please note, with the exception of those who serve on the board of trustees as representatives from AIDS United’s Public Policy Council, trustees represent themselves and the listed organizational affiliation is for informational purposes only.

Board Policy Principles

Our team

Our board

Our team

Our board

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Jesse Milan Jr., JD
President & CEO

jmilan@aidsunited.org

Jesse Milan, Jr., JD is a tireless community advocate and recognized national and international expert on HIV/AIDS policies and programs.

Milan joined AIDS United in 2016 as interim CEO and later that year was appointed by the board of trustees to the position of President & CEO. Milan brings over 30 years in executive roles in public and private sectors, including in government, not-for-profit, academic, and faith organizations. During his long career Milan has directed multi-million-dollar budgets and programs for federal, state, local, and global health agencies.

Milan’s exceptional record of public service includes serving currently on the Scientific Advisory Board for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), on the Infectious Disease Board of the American Board of Internal Medicine, and on the board of AVAC (AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition). He is an officer of the board of directors of Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA) and serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council for the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.

A lawyer and trusted advisor, Milan chaired for five years the CDC/HRSA Advisory Committee on HIV and STD Prevention and Treatment. He is past chair of the board of the Black AIDS Institute, past board president of ActionAIDS (now Action Wellness), and past president of the National Episcopal AIDS Coalition. In 2007 he was designated a Fulbright Senior Specialist in Global HIV/AIDS.

Jesse has addressed millions on television and radio and given hundreds of keynote addresses and presentations at national, regional, and global conferences and events. An inspiring speaker, he has conducted three speaking tours as an American expert on HIV to seven African nations on behalf of the U.S. State Department. In 2020, he delivered the opening address to the American Medical Students Association conference and the closing address for HRSA for the 30th anniversary of the Ryan White Program.

Milan is former AIDS Director for the City of Philadelphia, was a Deputy City Solicitor for Philadelphia, and served six years a chief of staff to the president of Temple University. He has worked as a leadership and executive coach with the Dorrier Underwood firm and as a public health consultant for federal contractor firms and agencies. He has co-authored peer-reviewed articles and published numerous op-ed pieces. He is graduate of Princeton University and the NYU School of Law.

Jesse has received numerous honors including the Public Service Award in 2015 from the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC) and the 2020 Alexander Forger Award for HIV Advocacy from the American Bar Association. Milan received in 2020 an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Virginia Theological Seminary for his years of service to faith and HIV communities. He has been listed among exceptional HIV leaders by POZ and HIV Plus magazines and received an award from HRSA for “leading the national and international fight against HIV disease.”

Milan has been living with HIV for nearly four decades. He and his husband, Bill have celebrated over 30 years of commitment.

“Fighting HIV has been my life’s work and doing it every day with the dedicated team at AIDS is a privilege.”

(202) 876-2817

Glen Pietrandoni, R.Ph. AAHIVP
Board Vice Chair
Vice President of Industry Relations Avita Pharmacy
Plano, TX

Glen Pietrandoni, R.Ph., AAHIVP, is the Vice President of Industry Relations at Avita Pharmacy and recently retired Senior Director, Patient Care and Advocacy HIV, Hepatitis, Organ Transplant, Chronic Inflammatory Disease, from a 30 year career at Walgreens. Glen is a life-long resident of the Chicago area, where he been an active member of the HIV/AIDS community. After graduating from the St. Louis College of Pharmacy, Glen became the owner of multiple independent pharmacies in Chicago and its suburbs for 10 years. He began his career with Walgreens in 1990, around the time of the approval of the first HIV/AIDS drugs. At that time, he began working with the LGBT community, dispensing much-needed emotional support as well as medication during a time when people did not survive as long with HIV/AIDS as they do today.

From 1996 to 2003, he managed the Walgreens pharmacy at the Howard Brown Health Center which specializes in HIV/AIDS—the first Walgreens pharmacy of its kind, located in an LGBT community center. Today, Walgreens has more than 200 locations within health centers, over 100 of them focus on HIV/AIDS and over 700 HIV specialized pharmacies in highly impacted communities across the country. Now almost a 25-year veteran with Walgreens, Glen is responsible for HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis products and services globally. Some of his key accomplishments include implementing patient support programs across multiple channels and providing pharmacist HIV/AIDS education.

As part of his ongoing commitment to supporting patients with HIV/AIDS, Glen earned his American Academy of HIV Medicine Expert designation in 2008. He plays an active role in gay community initiatives, co-chairing gala committees for HBHC and the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, as well as currently serving on the boards of directors’ two national HIV/AIDS organizations based in Washington, D.C. (AIDS United and ADAP Advocacy Association). Glen has also co-chaired WPRIDE, the Walgreens LGBT affinity group. He is the recipient of the following awards: 2002 Volunteer of the Year, Test Positive Aware Network, 1999 Drug Topics Magazine Pharmacist of the Year-Overall Performance and 1998 Drug Topics Magazine Pharmacist of the Year-Community Service. In 2012, Elton John referenced the Walgreens commitment to contributing to the end of AIDS in his book “Love is the Cure” citing their commitment to the cause and the difference being made at the local level by America’s largest drugstore company. Glen’s programs and the thousands of Walgreens employees have positioned Walgreens as a leader in HIV care, recognized by government agencies, medical providers and most importantly, by HIV consumers.

“Being on the Board of Trustees of AIDS United allows me to connect to programmatic work being done across the country on the front lines of health care. From my position as a pharmacist, most of my experience is helping people that are already in care, has a health care provider and support, as well as coverage for medication. Often, many people living with HIV do not have these luxuries. As a member of the Board of Trustees of AIDS United, I can keep my perspective of how much work still needs to be done and how many people still need help.”

Cecilia Chung
Trustee
Senior Director of Strategic Projects
Transgender Law Center
San Francisco, CA

Cecilia Chung, Senior Director of Strategic Projects of Transgender Law Center, is a Health Commissioner of San Francisco and an internationally recognized human rights leader who advocates for HIV/AIDS awareness and treatment access, LGBT equality, and social justice.

An immigrant from Hong Kong, Cecilia arrived in San Francisco in 1984. Cecilia has worked locally and internationally to advance equality and justice. Over the past 25 years, Cecilia 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. Her community service spans nearly two decades. In 1994, she was a member of San Francisco’s Transgender Discrimination Task Force, which documented widespread discrimination against transgender people through a groundbreaking report. The work of the Taskforce led the City to adopt many pioneering anti-discrimination ordinances and policies. During her tenure as President of the SF Pride Board, she led the organization in achieving 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 transgender events which has since been replicated in cities across the U.S. In 2005, she became the first Deputy Director of the Transgender Law Center and is widely credited with shaping the organization’s mission and programs. In 2013, she was appointed to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. In 2015, Cecilia launched Positively Trans, a first-of-its-kind leadership development project that focuses on trans leaders of color living with HIV.

Cecilia’s accolades include the Levis Strauss & Co. Pioneer Award, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation Cleve Jones Award, the Human Rights Campaign Community Service Award, California Women of The Year, Out and Equal Champion of the Year Award, to name a few.

As one of the seven commissioners in San Francisco Department of Public Health, Cecilia chairs the Finance and Planning Committee that provide oversights and approve contracts with a combine budget of US$ 2.2 billions. As an Asian transgender woman living with HIV, she has dedicated herself to ending stigma, discrimination, and violence in all communities.

Louis Tharp

Executive Director

Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF)

After running a successful international public relations, advertising and marketing company for nearly 20 years, taking equity positions in tech companies during the ‘90s, and working for some of the largest international PR and marketing agencies, Louis Tharp became a social entrepreneur in 1999, co-founding and funding CreakyJoints®, the digital community for millions of arthritis patients and caregivers worldwide who seek education, support, activism, and patient-centered research. In 2007, CreakyJoints became part of the Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF), which he also co-founded and now serves as Executive Director. GHLF focuses on health policy, advocacy, research, education and patient support issues impacting people with all types of chronic disease. In addition to his work with the foundation, he is also CEO and co-founder of TGI Healthworks, a healthcare research and marketing company.

He was previously a contract writer for The New York Times as well as other daily newspapers and automotive publications, and published his first hardcover book, The Complete Manager’s Guide to Promotional Merchandise (Dow-Jones Irwin) in 1989 – named one of the top business books of the year.

In 2005, he became the first out gay coach at the U.S. Military Academy, where he was the swim coach of the West Point Triathlon team. He published Overachiever’s Diary in 2007, a softcover book recounting the West Point tri team’s rise to national prominence. Proceeds from book sales went to the West Point triathlon team. He is also a competitive open water and pool swimmer with 13 World Masters, Gay Games and OutGames gold, silver and bronze medals.

From 2003 to 2008, he served on the board of visitors for the College of Business at Butler University, Indianapolis where he graduated with a B.S. and a B.A. in Journalism in 1972. Mr. Tharp served in the 38th Infantry Division, Headquarters, Indiana National Guard from 1972-1978. He was Chairman of the Anti-Bias Commission, Rockland County, New York, from 1994-1996; Chairman of the Board of CANDLE, a Rockland County, New York, non-profit from 1994-1997; is a former member of the board of the Victory Fund, Washington, DC, the Lambda Chi Alpha Educational Foundation, and a current member of Knights Out, U.S. Military Academy. From 2012-2018 he accepted a position in the Obama administration serving on the Army Education Advisory Committee and was recognized for his service in the Congressional Record.

Louis and his husband, Jim Bumgardner, live in Upper Nyack, NY.

Marcus Wilson
National Policy and Advocacy Director
Johnson & Johnson

Marcus A. Wilson (he/him) has a distinguished career highlighted by accomplishments in management, community support and sales resulting in diverse population service, expanding corporate market base and recruiting/developing key personnel.

Outstanding leadership, communication and presentation skills.
Characterized as ethical, creative, enthusiastic and confident.
Proven skills in strategic planning, people leadership, operations and budget development/control.
Adapt at fostering alliances across cross-functional teams.
Extended success demonstrated in consistently obtaining goals and measures.

Wilson joined Johnson & Johnson in 2006. He began his current role in January 2019, creating and sustaining partnerships with national advocacy and policy organizations to protect patient and physician choice as we work to end the HIV epidemic, create equity in health care and ensure vaccines are available to every person.

His career began in the financial sector with IDS Financial Services, which is now known as Ameriprise Financial, and quickly progressed from a financial advisor to field vice-president. Wilson completed the Harvard School of Business management training program, as well as the McKinsey Academy, Black Leadership Academy’s management accelerator, and holds a bachelor’s degree in telecommunications from Michigan State University.

His first pharmaceutical position was with Eli Lilly holding the position of neuroscience institutional representative covering California’s Central Valley. After three years, he was offered a position with Bristol-Myers Squibb in their virology department as a correctional manager covering the California prisons and jails. Wilson first joined the community affairs team at Janssen Infectious Diseases team in April 2008 as the community liaison manager covering the Midwest. Wilson collaborated with community members living with and vulnerable to HIV, and those who provide their care and support. Before joining the community affairs team, Wilson held the position of corrections/Kaiser specialist. Here he was providing HIV product knowledge to the medical staff and peace officers within the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, California County jail facilities and California Kaiser facilities.

Wilson led the community liaison team from 2016-2019. The team provides information helping allied health care professionals increase their knowledge on HIV regimens based on patient needs. The team also supports the most disenfranchised and disproportionately affected patients living with HIV by working directly with clinical staff, case managers, social workers and ancillary staff, providing a series of presentations geared at educating and empowering patients to manage their health.

Wilson is an active member of Open & Out, J&J’s employee resource group striving to make J&J the employer and health care company of choice for the LGBTQ+ community. He has served on the boards of AIDS Foundation Chicago and Chicago Black Gay Men’s Caucus. Wilson has provided support and guidance to numerous community organizations utilizing his policy and advocacy knowledge and relationships. He resides in Orlando, Florida, with his partner, Steven Jackson.