S.F. Positive Resource Center hires executive director

San Francisco-based Positive Resource Center, which provides benefits counseling and employment services for people with HIV/AIDS, has hired Brett Andrews as the agency's new executive director, filling a position that has been open since fall 2001, reports the Bay Area Reporter. Andrews, 38, previously worked as executive director of Los Angeles Team Mentoring Inc., a nonprofit organization that operates a mentoring program for middle school students growing up in some of Los Angeles's most impoverished communities. During his tenure there, Andrews increased revenue by 95% and grew program participation by 25%. Andrews said he wants to expand the Positive Resource Center's reach into underserved minority communities in the San Francisco area and also plans to significantly diversify the agency's client base. "I want to broaden our mission and have it not represented solely in the gay community," he said. "I want to make sure women and more minorities are [informed] of our resources so they can take advantage of them." Andrews's appointment comes after more than a year of financial and staffing turmoil at the agency. Former director Ken Bukowski announced that he was resigning in fall 2001, just weeks before the agency failed to renew a $750,000 government contract. Five staff members were subsequently laid off, and the executive director position remained open for more than 14 months.