S.F. AIDS Foundation -- Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation Select Mark Cloutier as Executive Director
Incoming Leader Has Over Twenty Years of Experience in HIV and Health Arena
March 22 , 2005 — Closing out a nine-month national search, the boards of directors of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF) and its international affiliate, the Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation, today announced the hiring of Mark Cloutier as the new SFAF executive director and president of Pangaea. The organizations' new leader brings an extensive and multi-faceted background in the fight against AIDS as well as broad experience working within the public and private health care sectors.
"The HIV pandemic faces enormous and complex challenges," said Lonnie Payne, long-standing SFAF board member and chair of the search committee. "Mark Cloutier has the intellect, broad background and practical experience necessary to answer these challenges and lead the San Francisco AIDS Foundation into the future."
Cloutier replaces Pat Christen who stepped down from SFAF and Pangaea last July after serving 15 years as SFAF's executive director and four years as president of Pangaea. The SFAF and Pangaea boards launched their search for an executive director/president last July, engaging in a nationwide process to identify the broadest candidate pool possible.
“We are very excited and inspired by the hiring of Mark Cloutier,” said Pangaea’s Board Chair, Paul Wisotzky, who was also a member of the search committee. “Mark is deeply committed to the global response to HIV and particularly Pangaea’s priority to create broad access to HIV treatment and care in the developing world. As president, Mark is poised to make a significant contribution to Pangaea’s mission and the global response to HIV and AIDS.”
Dr. Eric Goosby, Pangaea’s chief executive officer and medical director, added: “I’m looking forward to working with Mark on Pangaea’s current priorities and on future efforts to expand HIV/AIDS treatment and care in the developing world.”
The new SFAF and Pangaea leader will start work on June 1st, departing his current position as executive director of Continuum, a community-based HIV health care organization that provides medical care and social support services to people with HIV in the Tenderloin.
In joining the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and Pangaea, Cloutier said, "I am extremely proud and honored to be named executive director of one of the most respected and effective AIDS organizations in the country and president of an agency that has so quickly become a crucial player in the international AIDS response. My primary goal is to ensure that these two organizations continue to provide the strong leadership, innovation, courage and vision that is required to bring an end to HIV in this country and the world." [Read Cloutier's bio.]
Cloutier brings a rich and diverse blend of experience and management skills to his new leadership positions. As Continuum’s executive director for the past three years, Cloutier has been constantly challenged to find and implement innovative strategies for providing HIV medical care and support services to indigent populations who suffer not only from HIV but also from homelessness, substance abuse and severe mental disorders.
In addition to his current nonprofit management experience, Cloutier’s professional background includes over 20 years of public policy and legislative affairs work in the health arena in Washington, D.C., and in Sacramento. He is a former legislative aide to Senator Barbara Boxer, working with her while she served in the House of Representatives.
Cloutier has extensive training and work experience as a bioethicist. He has consulted with a wide array of health care organizations in the public and private sectors to address ethical issues in service delivery systems, pricing structures, benefits coverage and application of medical technology. The foundation's new executive director holds master's degrees in public policy and public health from the University of California at Berkeley.
As Cloutier reflected on his new position and responsibilities, he said, "The success of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and Pangaea has been greatly aided by the broad base of support provided by thousands of donors, volunteers and other partners in the community who have remained steadfastly committed to our mission of ending the pandemic and human suffering caused by HIV. As executive director and president, I am looking forward to ensuring that the resources entrusted to our organizations continue to achieve the highest impact possible in defeating the HIV pandemic."
The San Francisco AIDS Foundation is a non-profit, community-based organization that is committed to ending the pandemic and the human suffering caused by HIV. The agency provides a comprehensive array of services — including financial benefits counseling, client advocacy, housing assistance, needle exchange, and the California AIDS Hotline (800-367-AIDS) — that directly serve over 100,000 individuals. The agency reaches over 1.5 million others through community outreach programs, public policy efforts, prevention campaigns, and the Web. To learn more about SFAF visit www.sfaf.org, www.aidshotline.org and www.gaylife.org.
The Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation was established to strategically address the global impact of HIV, particularly in developing countries, which account for 95% of all new HIV infections in the world. The organization's core focus is to broaden access to HIV drugs in the developing world and to support the development of an HIV vaccine. To learn more about Pangaea visit www.pgaf.org.
Media Contact: Redge Norton, Media Relations Manager, San Francisco AIDS Foundation