February 14, 2024 – Treatment Action Group (TAG), the New-York-City-based activist research and policy think tank working to end the epidemics of HIV, TB, and hepatitis C, made leadership changes at its annual Board of Directors meeting on February 10, 2024.
Rob Lennon, who served as Board President from 2021 to 2024, stepped down as President. Lennon said, “It was an honor to help lead the board over the last several years. The incredible staff and amazing global work the organization does continue to inspire me, and I am delighted to be staying on as a TAG board member.”
Ivy Kwan Arce was unanimously elected as TAG’s new Board President. Kwan Arce is an artist and activist who joined TAG’s Board in 2022 and most recently served as TAG’s Treasurer.
Ivy received a Research in Action Award (RIAA) in 2021, and she created our 2023 RIAA Limited Art Edition. Ivy is a first-generation Chinese-American and has been living with HIV since 1990. She has two sons currently in college who were born without HIV due to antiretroviral therapy that prevented mother-to-child transmission.
On her election as TAG’s Board President, Ivy said, “In 1992, I said to Sally Cooper, who was then director of the PWA Health Group, ‘I wish HIV+ women could have a version of TAG. Treatment and access to clinical trials were often out of reach for us.’ Over the last three years, TAG has given me the opportunity to work with the most dedicated and brilliant staff. Organizing with Richard Jefferys, who has helped me research options these last 33 years of dire health needs, including research support as I decided to become a parent 24 years ago, securing both my sons’ HIV-free negative status has been incredible. I have met global partners who continue to inform and shape the roadmap for a cure. Valentine’s Day 2024 will be like no other for me. I am intensely grateful to be part of TAG’s work creating new and expanded places at the table.”
TAG executive director Mark Harrington said, “We all congratulate and thank Rob Lennon on his four years of Board leadership at TAG and are grateful he’s staying on the Board. We’re thrilled to welcome Ivy as the incoming Board President and look forward to working closely with her to fulfill TAG’s mission in the years ahead.”
Bob Bronzo, who chaired the Research in Action Awards from 2019 – 2023, was unanimously elected to TAG’s Board. “I’ve been in love with TAG for over three decades,” Bronzo stated, “and it’s a privilege to be able to continue to work with and for this essential, life-saving, and world-changing organization.”
Mrinal Vikram was re-elected as board secretary, and Laura Morrison graciously agreed to serve as treasurer.
TAG is currently seeking additional board members; more information and details are available on the TAG website here.
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About Treatment Action Group
Now in our fourth decade, Treatment Action Group is an independent, activist, and community-based research and policy think tank committed to racial, gender, and LGBTQ+ equity; social justice; and liberation, fighting to end HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and hepatitis C virus (HCV).
TAG catalyzes open collective action by affected communities, scientists, and policymakers to ensure that all people living with or impacted by HIV, TB, or HCV — especially communities of color and other marginalized communities experiencing inequities — receive life-saving prevention, diagnosis, treatment, care, and information.
We are science-based activists working to expand and accelerate vital research and effective community engagement with research and policy institutions for an end to the HIV, TB, and HCV pandemics.