Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation Welcomes Four New Members to Board of Directors

April 27, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Robert Yule, 202-390-9540, ryule@pedaids.org

April 27, 2012, Washington, D.C. – The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) is pleased to announce the addition of four new members to its Board of Directors. The Foundation’s new board members include:

• Omar Abdi, comptroller of UNICEF
• Kathleen Cravero, president of the Oak Foundation
• Paula A. Kerger, president and chief executive officer of PBS
• George W. Wellde, Jr., retired vice chairman of securities division at Goldman Sachs

“We are delighted to welcome four new board members to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation,” said Willow Bay and Russ Hagey, Foundation Board Co-Chairs. “Their diversity of experience and deep commitment to children will be instrumental to achieving the goal of ending pediatric AIDS worldwide.”

The Foundation was started in 1988 by AIDS activist and mother Elizabeth Glaser to provide a voice for children and families living with HIV, and to spur much-needed research into pediatric HIV/AIDS. In the past decade, the Foundation has also grown into a major global implementer of HIV prevention and care and treatment programs. The Foundation is one of the largest providers of services to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) in sub-Saharan Africa, and a leader in the global movement to end new HIV infections in children around the world.

Omar Abdi was appointed comptroller of UNICEF in January of 2011. Since joining UNICEF in 1992, Mr. Abdi has served as UNICEF Representative in both Liberia and Ghana, taken the lead on programs aimed at aiding women and children in Pakistan, and was key in coordinating emergency response efforts to the earthquakes that devastated the country in 2005. A Somali-born Canadian, Mr. Abdi holds degrees in civil engineering, regional planning, and development economics.

Kathleen Cravero was appointed president of the Oak Foundation in February of 2009. In that capacity, she assists the Oak Foundation’s Trustees to lead efforts within the six focus areas of the Oak Foundation: Environment, Child Abuse, Housing & Homelessness, International Human Rights, Issues Affecting Women, and Learning Differences. Prior to joining the Oak Foundation, Ms. Cravero worked for a number of human rights-oriented organizations, including UNAIDS, UNICEF, UNDP, and WHO. At UNDP, she chaired the Steering Committee of “Stop Rape Now – UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict.” Ms. Cravero holds a Ph.D in Political Science and a Masters in Public Health.

Paula A. Kerger is president and CEO of PBS, the U.S.’s largest non-commercial media organization with more than 350 member stations. Since her arrival at PBS in 2006, Ms. Kerger has made particularly strong commitments to the arts, news and public affairs, education, diversity, and the use of new technology to expand access to public media. In addition, Ms. Kerger is president of the PBS Foundation, an independent organization that raises private sector funding for PBS. Prior to joining PBS, Ms. Kerger served for more than a decade at Educational Broadcasting Corporation, the parent company of Thirteen/WNET.

George W. Wellde, Jr. served as vice chairman of the securities division at Goldman Sachs & Company from 2005 until his retirement in 2008. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs in 1979, he worked for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington, D.C. Mr. Wellde joined the University of Richmond’s Board of Trustees in 2000, and served as its chairman from 2006 to 2010. Mr. Wellde also serves on the Board of Trustees of George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and has been a member of its Investment Committee since 2004.

###

About the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF):
The Foundation is a global leader in the fight against pediatric HIV and AIDS, and has reached more than 13.6 million women with services to prevent transmission of HIV to their babies. It currently works at nearly 6,000 sites and in 15 countries to implement prevention, care, and treatment services; to further advance innovative research; and to execute strategic and targeted global advocacy activities in order to bring dramatic change to the lives of millions of women, children, and families worldwide.