The Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative is branching out for several new efforts to raise awareness about safe sex and HIV prevention — furthered by the addition of a handful of board members and staffers.
Earlier this year, the board elected member David Torres as president and has brought on four additional members, bringing the group to eight.
Torres, coordinator of the city’s language-access program, said he was “humbled” to be elected him president and that he’s impressed with the recent board development.
“It’s exciting to be able to see this agency change and grow so much,” he said. “We have members with different perspectives and skills sets that we bring from our professional and personal lives. Through our work in government, nonprofit and other areas we are now able to move the board in a new direction.”
The agency saw a number of executive director changes in recent years, which impacted the board’s ability to operate effectively as its own body — a trend from which it is now departing, said current executive director Elicia Gonzalez, who’s been at the helm for nearly two years.
“Given the leadership transitions that went on in the past three years, the board had been operating as an extension of the staff, but it’s now in a place where it can really function as a board should,” Gonzalez said.
New board members brought on this quarter include Ricardo Maldonado, executive director of the Chilean and American Chamber of Commerce; Olinshar Nguyen, strategy analyst at JPMorgan Chase; Lauren Vidas, government and external affairs specialist in the mayor’s office; and Celina De Leon, communications and media specialist who previously worked in the New York City Department of Health.
The new members join Torres, vice president Tiffany Thompson, Matty Lehman and Anne Koellhoffer.
GALAEI also hired Nicole Lopez, Karla Diaz and Sergio Morales, who will work on the organization’s recent initiatives to branch out into North Philadelphia.
GALAEI recently began providing services and resources twice a week at El Centro, an alternative charter school that primarily serves Latino youth with project-based learning.
“It’s a remarkable facility because it’s often the last stop before youth are no longer eligible to get their diploma — many have been kicked out, pushed out, dropped out of school, and this is often their last resort,” Gonzalez said.
GALAEI representatives have been on hand providing risk-reduction and comprehensive sexual education for the students, many of whom are at risk for teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, marking the first time the agency is offering its curriculum in-house in another facility.
GALAEI also plans to offer resources at a new gay party Thursday nights at Tierra Colombiana on North Fifth Street in North Philly, organized by June Aviles, who Gonzalez said has long supported HIV causes.
When the agency began discussing plans for the party with Aviles, the conversation sparked an innovative idea to also reach Latino LGBT youth — through a ball similar to those usually geared toward black queer youth, which Gonzalez said would mark the first time a Latino-specific ball has been held in Philadelphia.
The organization’s recent collaborations exemplify GALAEI’s revamped commitment to community partnerships, Gonzalez said, noting it has also bolstered its ties with agencies like Congreso de Latino Unidos and the Council of Spanish Speaking Organizations Inc., participating in the latter’s Hispanic Fiesta for the first time in a number of years.
GALAEI is in the second year of a two-year grant from Hispanics in Philanthropy and, while the first year’s monies were dedicated to staff and board development, the second year’s funds will go toward a strategic-planning process to meet the needs of both Latino and LGBT communities.
“We’re going to be taking a look at where GALAEI has been and where we want to be in the next five years,” Gonzalez said. “We’re a bridge between the Latino and LGBT communities so we want to make sure we don’t ignore either community, but providing services simultaneously is a dance that we’ve been trying to perfect for 20 years. We want to make sure we’re leading from a place of integrity, offering services the community needs and measuring the impact of our work.”
Torres said the board could consider adding up to another four members and plans to revisit GALAEI’s bylaws.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].