When his patience was severely tested, his crankiness and disdain could be surly, but it was exceeded by his big heart. He cut his teeth as a labor negotiator in 1970s Chicago, which made him both a skillful diplomat and a formidable foe with no patience for irrational and unnecessary obstacles. Marty was a brainy, imaginative, resourceful activist. I’m proud to have worked side by side with so many at PI, including Alan McCord, Jude Leahy, Anne Donnelly, Andrew Reynolds, Ryan Clary, and Emalie Hurieaux, just to start. Short of that, we need accessible medications for prevention and treatment that are acceptable to every single person living with HIV.
That will only happen with equal participation and leadership from every affected community. The need for organizations like Project Inform, for its HIV and Hep C programs, and for the people who do this work is undiminished. They set an example for me in what it means to serve-to educate and mentor others. They answered every question I asked, showed me various medical journals, and taught me to distinguish between genuine glimmers of hope versus junk science. When I first volunteered for PI in 1991, a group of brilliant self-taught HIV scientists, including Brenda Lein, Ben Cheng, and Marty, of course, patiently trained me in activism and advocacy. It’s the end of Project Inform as we know it…but I still feel the same unflagging determination to break the back of this epidemic as I did when I first met my mentor, Marty Delaney, nearly three decades ago. We must all honor this legacy by ensuring that HIV treatment advocacy remain at the forefront of our movement. In this message shared with My Fabulous Disease, David reflects on Project Inform’s legacy and on the influence of its legendary founder, Martin Delaney. Project Inform’s Director of Research Advocacy, David Evans, has been working with the organization in various capacities for the last 27 years. (The HIV community was dealt a sad blow this week when it was announced that the iconic non-profit HIV treatment advocacy organization, Project Inform, will end its programs. He is also a former POZ staffer and blogger.Project Inform founder, the late Martin Delaney, with David Evans in a 1997 photo Under Van Gorder’s leadership, Project Inform was instrumental in the launch of San Francisco’s Getting to Zero plan (meaning zero HIV infections, zero AIDS deaths and zero stigma by 2020) the organization also worked on the implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy under President Obama.Įvans, the interim leader, has more than 25 years of experience working on HIV advocacy, policy and education in San Francisco and New York. “The board and staff are deeply indebted to Dana for his thoughtful choices about areas in which the agency could bring unique leadership to the effort to end HIV and hepatitis C, for hard work to sustain the agency during years when funding of HIV and hepatitis C has been volatile, and for perpetuating the great regard that is held for Project Inform in the community,” said Glen Lubbert, president of the board of directors, in the press release.īased in California, the 33-year-old organization fights the HIV and hepatitis C epidemics by advocating for treatments, research, education and quality health care.
The board of directors has appointed David Evans as interim executive director. Project Inform executive director Dana Van Gorder is departing after more than a decade of helming the organization, according to a Project Inform press release.
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