The executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative resigned earlier this summer after less than a year in the position.
Louis Bonilla said he stepped down several weeks ago for personal reasons.
“I decided to pursue other options,” Bonilla said.
GALAEI board member Tiffany Thompson has taken over as interim executive director while the agency conducts a search for a permanent director.
Bonilla took the position Oct. 1 after former executive director Gloria Casarez left the organization to become the city’s director of LGBT affairs.
Bonilla said during his tenure with GALAEI, he built upon the foundation of the group’s previous leaders.
“Primarily, I tried to continue the good work that my predecessors had started, namely Gloria Casarez and her predecessor David Acosta,” he said. “I tried to just keep up the good work that GALAEI has become known for.”
Bonilla began working in the HIV/AIDS field while in high school, volunteering at several HIV/AIDS agencies in New York City and later serving as the New York state policy director at the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute. He also conducted numerous research projects on the role of prostitution and drug use in the spread of HIV and the disease’s effect on Latino communities.
Locally, he served as a health-outreach worker and HIV educator in North Philadelphia and the executive director of the Consortium for Latino Health, and volunteered at Prevention Point Philadelphia, the AIDS Fund, Concilio and the Latino Partnership Initiative.
Immediately prior to coming to GALAEI, Bonilla worked as the southwest regional administrator for the School District of Philadelphia.
GALAEI board chair Glenn Martin said that, in addition to building upon the examples of Casarez and Acosta, Bonilla was also able to utilize his own background to strengthen the agency.
“In the short time he was there, he continued their work but also was able to strike out and do some new things,” Martin said. “He came with a lot of experience working with the Latino population, particularly in the north section of the city, so he was able to make a lot of connections that hadn’t been there before.”
Martin said the organization is planning to maintain the relationships Bonilla forged among GALAEI, health workers and residents in North Philadelphia, even though he is no longer with the organization.
“Louis resigning doesn’t change our ability to continue to reach out to this new population that we’re working with,” Martin said. “It strengthens what GALAEI’s all about. I think that having Louis on board has definitely been a positive step for the organization.”
Bonilla said he’s planning to take an extended vacation and then figure out his next career move.
Martin noted that Thompson has been involved with several area LGBT organizations, such as Equality Forum, and will fuse her knowledge of the local community with her management skills to guide the organization until the board locates a permanent director.
Martin estimated the search could take 30-60 days.