Secretariat Staff
George Ayala, PsyD, Executive Officer
Dr. Ayala has worked in the nonprofit HIV/AIDS sector managing social service programs for twenty years. He is the former Director of Education at AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA), where he oversaw HIV prevention; capacity building assistance; community-based research; print, video, and web-based media programs for six years. A clinical psychologist by training, Dr. Ayala has also conducted social science and community-based intervention research since 1996. Dr. Ayala worked as a researcher at RTI International and the University of California, in Los Angeles and San Francisco. His research has mainly focused on understanding the mechanisms through which social discrimination impacts health among gay men and other men who have sex with men. Dr. George Ayala can be reached via email: contact@msmgf.org
Omar Baños, Program Associate
Omar Baños has worked in HIV prevention and AIDS treatment education and other capacity development areas for more than nine years. He has international experience working in Latin America with MSM organizations. As the Program Associate, Baños will develop a vision, message, and content for SENSE, the MSMGF's multimedia publication by and for MSM living with HIV, serving as the primary representative of the MSMGF multimedia publication component for MSMGF’s partners, staff and members. Mr. Baños will also plan technical assistance opportunities with regional and international MSM networks. Mr. Baños can be reached via email: obanos@msmgf.org
Jack Beck, Senior Communications Associate
Jack Beck comes to the MSMGF with a background in international development and global health. His work, mainly in Asia and the United States, has focused on civil society support, HIV prevention programming, and access to essential medicines. As the MSMGF's lead communications officer, his efforts are primarily focused on promoting meaningful global communication and collaboration on issues concerning MSM and HIV. This includes responsibility for the MSMGF's global communications, continued development of the MSMGF's international network, and the ongoing evolution of MSMGF.org. Jack Beck can be reached via email: jbeck@msmgf.org
Lily Catanes, MBA, Contracts & Grants Manager
With foundations in international business, leadership and marketing, Lily brings forth experience in event, project and office management. Her background also includes instructional design and development for online education and training. She supports the MSMGF in an administrative and logistical capacity for all of its operations, which include project implementation, office management, travel and meeting planning/coordination. Lily Catanes can be reached via email: lcatanes@msmgf.org
Christian Fung, Director of Programs
Christian is a Hong Kong native whose commitment to HIV and broader international health topics has taken taken him to Cambodia, Malawi, Rwanda, Ghana, Russia, China, Indonesia, Kosovo, and Cuba in the past 15 years. Trained in economics and epidemiology, with a nearly finished doctorate in health policy & management, Christian left his Foreign Service post in 2012 as the USAID West & Central Africa Regional Health Director to join the MSMGF hoping to synergize advocacy with diplomacy to achieve concrete results. His responsibility at MSMGF is to grow and expand the programmatic area of the Forum. Christian can be reached via email: cfung@msmgf.org.
Pato Hebert, Senior Education Associate
Pato Hebert has been working in HIV prevention since 1994. His focus has been cultural production, programming and information messaging. He will be leading the HIV prevention foci of the MSMGF while also helping to develop identity and cohesion across our coordinated programmatic and material efforts. Pato Hebert can be reached via email: phebert@msmgf.org
Keletso Makofane, MPH, Program Associate
Keletso Makofane comes to the MSMGF having just completed his Master’s Degree as a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. A South African national, Keletso recently concluded an internship at the United Nations Development Programme with Dr. Cheikh Traore, where he helped develop the agency’s guidance document focused on needs assessment processes with MSM and transgender people for their multi-city HIV initiative. He also interned at the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programmes in Kenya, where he evaluated linkage to care and retention for patients living with HIV at 40 treatment facilities across the country. Keletso can be reached at kmakofane@msmgf.org.
Noah Metheny, Esq., MPH, Director of Policy
Noah Metheny joins the MSMGF with expertise in the intersection of law, public health, and human rights. Most recently, he worked in Bangkok for three years, serving as a legal educator for the Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group on HIV and viral hepatitis issues. He has also served as policy advisor for the United Nations Development Programme’s Bureau for Policy Development, where he developed technical assistance materials for creating sustainable strategies to optimize access to viral hepatitis and HIV-related services. Noah is a graduate of the UC Berkeley School of Law and Harvard School of Public Health. Noah can be reached at nmetheny@msmgf.org.
Goldie Negelev, Communications Specialist
Goldie Negelev comes to the MSMGF with a passion for academics and social justice, aiming to coalesce these two pursuits in a way which is meaningful and affirming. She brings a strong focus on gender and racial politics to her work, as well as commitment to LGBT rights. She is responsible for the production of the MSMGF Eblast, as well as maintaining the MSMGF’s online database of articles and reports on the health and human rights of MSM around the world. Goldie Negelev can be reached via email at gnegelev@msmgf.org.
Mohan Sundararaj, MBBS, MPH, Public Health Advisor
Dr. Sundararaj is a trained physician from India with a master’s degree from the Harvard School of Public Health. As a member of the programs team, Dr. Sundararaj is responsible for providing technical input to local public health programs targeting marginalized communities and developing responses to in-country capacity needs. He transitioned into this role in July 2012 from the MSMGF policy team where he advanced policy initiatives focused on multilateral institutions and provided support to activists working for transgender health and rights worldwide. Dr. Sundararaj can be reached at msundararaj@msmgf.org.
