Press room

Project Inform names new Executive Director;
Founding Director Martin Delaney to retire at year's end

October 15, 2007

	Dana Van Gorder Executive Director

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Project Inform, a national nonprofit organization working to end the AIDS epidemic, announced a pair of key changes in its leadership today. Martin Delaney announced that he will leave his leadership post at the agency after 23 years, effective January 1, 2008. The agency’s Board of Directors announced that Dana Van Gorder will become Project Inform’s Executive Director beginning November 15, 2007.

Michael Allerton, President of Project Inform’s Board of Directors said that the agency’s current transition helps to assure its ongoing contribution to ending HIV/AIDS. “Sometimes when organizations make the transition from the leadership of a founder to a new generation of leadership, it can be a time of risk. In Project Inform’s case, however, the Board has thoughtfully planned for the agency’s evolution. Along with Dana's many contributions to the community and experience in HIV, our highly professional and dedicated staff and volunteers, and Marty's commitment to our ongoing success, I see nothing but a bright future at Project Inform. I am extremely honored and excited to be a part of this organization at this critical juncture in its history.”

For 23 years, Delaney has provided pioneering and essential leadership of efforts to assure the availability and affordability of effective medications to treat HIV, as well as sound treatment information to hundreds of thousands of HIV-positive people nationally and internationally. Delaney will retire from his post as Founding Director on December 31, 2007. He will become a consultant to Project Inform at that time.

“Dana’s hiring concludes a long-planned and orderly transition for myself and Project Inform,” said Delaney. “Our goal is to keep the spirit and mission of Project Inform alive while opening the door to new ideas and renewed energy. I will leave my employment with Project Inform on January 1, but remain available as a key consultant to assist the agency in ways that Dana and I identify. My priority is to pass on and preserve the productive relationships Project Inform has built over the last 23 years with scientists, industry and government officials. I will continue to work in the field of HIV treatment and research advocacy, but in new ways that complement and support the work of Project Inform without duplication. As I move along toward my full retirement from consulting in future years, I am confident that I am leaving the agency in the hands of a capable leader who shares the passionate commitment that has been demonstrated by Project Inform staff and volunteers for more than two decades.”

Van Gorder currently serves as Director of State & Local Policy at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF). He has collaborated for the past several years with Project Inform staff to assure that California’s Legislature and Governor increase funding for vital HIV programs and that California’s laws assure the highest possible response to the epidemic. Prior to his work at the SFAF, Van Gorder was the Coordinator of Lesbian & Gay Health Services for the San Francisco Department of Public Health. He is one of the founders of the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center and a former aide to San Francisco Supervisors Harry Britt and Carole Migden.

“I am deeply honored and excited to take this post in an agency for which I have so much respect,” said Van Gorder. “Project Inform has made and continues to make a heroic contribution to ending the epidemic. I clearly remember the electrifying, courageous and effective work Marty Delaney and Project Inform led in the 80s to provide hope for treating AIDS. In the 90s, this agency set the gold standard for thoughtful, well-informed advocacy and information. Project Inform does not currently get the attention and credit it deserves for the quality and impact of its HIV treatment information, treatment advocacy and public policy work.

“The trust that community members and donors place in our HIV/AIDS service agencies is to be taken very seriously. In the coming months, I will be working closely with the Board and staff at Project Inform, as well as with national HIV experts, to revisit all of our current activities and consider innovative new efforts that preserve Project Inform's tradition as one of the most strategic and effective leaders of the effort to end HIV/AIDS.

On Wednesday, October 24, 2007, Van Gorder will be on hand to meet and address guests of Project Inform’s annual fundraising gala, Evening of Hope. The event will be held at the Fort Mason Officer’s Club, Building 1, Upper Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA from 6:00–9:00 pm and will feature a reception, awards ceremony, silent auction, and entertainment featuring The Exeter String Quartet, the Ladies of Passion and a very special performance by Spencer Day. Tickets start at $150.