The Well Project Announces Appointment of Three Thought-Leaders to Board of Directors
Judith Auerbach, Kyeh Kim and Karen Wirth lend decades of diverse expertise to the organization
January 22, 2014 - Brooklyn, NY. The Well Project, a premier resource for information about women and HIV, today announced the addition of three new board members to its board of directors: Judith Auerbach, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Kyeh Kim, Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), and Karen Wirth, University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill.
"We are honored to announce the appointment of these three women, all of whom are leaders in their fields and bring unique and diverse experience to The Well Project," said Krista Martel, executive director of The Well Project. "Over the past year, we have focused on strengthening The Well Project's foundation and core competencies as we look to expand our programming and scope in 2014 and beyond. We are especially enthusiastic about welcoming board members with such deep knowledge of social science, marketing, and global development, which complements the rich expertise of our current board members and will help us advance our ambitious agenda."
Each of the new board members brings with her a deep commitment to the fight against HIV/AIDS among women. Dr. Auerbach is a public sociologist, independent science and policy consultant, and an adjunct professor in the school of medicine at UCSF. Her previous roles include positions at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, amfAR, and the Office of AIDS Research at the National Institutes of Health, among others.
"I've had the honor of being a long-term participant in the Women's Research Initiative on HIV/AIDS, a program of The Well Project, and thus have had the opportunity to witness the transformation that The Well Project has undergone over the past 12 years," said Dr. Auerbach. "While it started as a website that provided American women with information about HIV, today it has become much more – a global hub of resources that informs and supports women around the world. As a social scientist and feminist, I am excited to formalize my relationship with The Well Project and to lend my expertise as we develop and implement new programming that addresses the complex factors that influence women's experience of HIV in different settings."
Ms. Kim is the deputy vice president for the infrastructure, environment, and private sector division at MCC, where she is responsible for managing a global portfolio of projects in energy, water, sanitation, irrigation, transportation, and vertical structures; environmental and social performance; and finance, investment, and trade. Prior to her nine-year tenure at MCC, she worked with the Peace Corps, EnterpriseWorks Worldwide, World Bank, and the Academy for Educational Development.
"I very much look forward to lending my international experience to The Well Project as the organization continues to expand its global footprint and develop new resources that specifically address the needs of women in the developing world," said Ms. Kim. "Through my work, I've seen first-hand the significant need for information and resources that can help empower women living with HIV around the world and I am committed to helping The Well Project make their content available to all women who need it."
Ms. Wirth is a visiting scholar at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC at Chapel Hill. Her work in pharmaceuticals and medical education has focused on HIV and hepatitis, most recently at HealthMatters Communication and previously at GlaxoSmithKline, where she developed grassroots initiatives for women, incarcerated individuals, and substance users with HIV, as well as direct-to-patient campaigns.
"I am thrilled to join The Well Project, an organization widely considered 'the go-to resource' for women and HIV," said Ms. Wirth. "I have worked in HIV for nearly 20 years, with a particular emphasis on developing materials and education that resonate with targeted audiences. I am eager to specifically focus on HIV among women and girls, and to lend my marketing expertise to The Well Project, especially as it broadens its scope for the coming years."
These appointments bring the total number of Well Project board members to eight, including Richard Averitt, co-founder of The Well Project and chair of the board, Abby Charles, Institute for Public Health Innovation, Kim Reed, Reed International Law and Consulting, Maura Riordan, AIDS United, and Val Scott, Strategic Continuum Company. In addition, Dawn Averitt, founder of The Well Project, serves as emeritus board member. For more information about The Well Project's leadership, please click here.
About The Well Project
The Well Project is a non-profit organization whose mission is to change the course of the HIV/AIDS pandemic through a unique and comprehensive focus on women and girls. The Well Project develops and offers resources that move women along the HIV continuum of care by helping them overcome the inequalities, barriers, and stigma that contribute to the epidemic among women. The organization focuses on three critical gaps related to women and HIV: information access, community support, and targeted research. These resources include an award-winning web portal that provides information on more than 150 topics related to both HIV-positive and negative women and girls; the A Girl Like Me blog, a unique online global support community that enables women and girls with HIV to share stories and experiences in a safe place; and the Women's Research Initiative on HIV/AIDS, an expert, transdisciplinary think tank established to elevate, enhance, and expedite HIV treatment and prevention research on women and girls. The Well Project advocates that every woman and girl has the right to quality, current information about HIV/AIDS, which can mean the difference between simply living with HIV, to contributing to and thriving within her community.
Together, we can change the tide of the HIV epidemic…one woman at a time.
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