AIDS Action
Council names deputy director

The AIDS Action Council, a national AIDS advocacy organization that represents nearly 100 AIDS and health care agencies throughout the country, this week appointed Ronald S. Johnson as the agency's deputy director. Johnson, currently the associate executive director at New York City's Gay Men's Health Crisis, will join AAC in September. He will oversee the public policy and government affairs staff and functions at the organization. Johnson joined GMHC in 1997 and directs the agency's public policy and advocacy functions. Prior to his work at GMHC, Johnson served as the citywide coordinator for AIDS policy for New York City and as the city's cochair of the HIV Health and Human Services Planning Council, which helps distribute federal Ryan White AIDS Funds. He also served as a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. "I have admired Ronald's work for many years," said AAC executive director Rebecca Haag in a statement. "We already have a strong team doing incredible work in policy and government, and Ronald will provide strategic direction and oversight. He is a superb analyst, presenter, advocate, and collaborator and has a track record of creating and managing high-performance teams. He shares my vision that those of us working in HIV must enact a more horizontal strategy and create partnerships with those engaged in other areas of health care, across disabilities, and including related businesses and institutions." For more information on AAC, go online to www.aidsaction.org. (The Advocate)