Resolution grants change in GMHC Board, CAB Chair takes seat

By Sr. Correspondent, Antoine Craigwell

(New York, NY) -In a stunning volte face, Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) Board of Directors appointed Manuel Rivera, chair of the Consumer's Advisory Board (CAB) as a client representative to the Board.

On Sept 24, after more than three years of petitions, letters, and threats of protests from the CAB, the Board of Directors finally realized that for GMHC to continue receiving Ryan White funding, they had to abide by a resolution passed by the NYC Ryan White Planning Council and to honor the 1983 Denver Principles to have a representative from its client body on the Board.

Rivera is the first HIV-positive client to sit on the Board and represents GHMC's 15,000 clients: men, women and transgender; gay or straight; open or private about their HIV status. As of writing, Rivera's name is not listed as a Board member on GMHC's Website, even though Project Runway host Tim Gunn, appointed to the Board at the same time as Rivera, is listed.

 

Manuel Rivera In a press release issued by Housing Works celebrating this client-based achievement, GMHC had no comment on Rivera's appointment. Board co-chair Matthew Moore sent Rivera a letter on Sept 22 welcoming him to the Board. Posted on Housing Works Website on Jun 18, Diana Scholl, the press liaison said that "the New York City Ryan White Planning Council passed a resolution 20 to two calling on non-profit organizations receiving Ryan White Part A funds that primarily serve HIV-positive clients to have a consumer sit on their Board of Directors." The resolution, the result of the tireless efforts from mostly members of GMHC's CAB, especially in the adherence and enforcement of the Denver Principles, mandated that all AIDS Service Organizations receiving Ryan White funding should include HIV-positive clients on their Boards.

At the June meeting, Russell Stevens, a CAB member speaking to the GMHC board said, "You signed on to the contract of the Denver Principles and you should live it. We who are in the trenches know what's going on. How can someone on the board [who's not a client] identify with the garbage we go through every day?" According to Housing Works, the resolution stated "that all non-profit organizations receiving Ryan White Part A funds shall be required to include no less than one (1) HIV-positive consumer, who is willing to be known as such to the public, and who has been elected by other consumers of that organization to its board of directors, except in the case of grant recipients not directly serving primarily HIV-positive clients, in which case the consumer representative(s) may be elected to that organization's existing board of directors, advisory board or other appropriate body." But with passing the resolution, members of the Planning Council which included NYC Department of Health representatives cautioned that the resolution may be non-binding because the City's Human Resources and Services Administrative (HRSA) would likely have other guidelines.

This contention was disputed by the HRSA spokesperson, David Bowman, who said, "There are no HRSA rules that either allow or prohibit the Council from making rules that influence the make-up of boards of organizations receiving Ryan White Part A funds." Over the years, GMHC's CAB had struggled with disingenuousness and mixed messages from the executive director and the board chair. In March, GMHC Board Co-Chair, Odell Mays, sent a letter to the CAB which stated that while he reaffirms his commitment as a community activist who has worked in the AIDS community for years and as an advocate for representation, that with regard to a CAB designated seat on the Board, "…my position has been pretty consistent. I do not feel that the agency is best served by having any designated seats…" But Mays' letter contradicted a previous letter sent to the CAB by the agency's executive director, Marjorie Hill, Ph.D., and co-signed by Robert Bank, Esq., chief operating officer; to the CAB dated Jun 2007, in which it acknowledged a meeting which discussed "the creation of a seat on the GHMC Board of Directors and for the CAB to recommend GHMC clients to serve on the GHMC Board of Directors." The letter continued by saying that the CAB should recommend "up to five GHMC clients who are or will become members of the CAB for consideration for GHMC Board of Directors membership."

Following on the letter's recommendation, the CAB put forward five candidates for the Board position and each was denied by the Board for one reason or another. The letter denying the candidates was accompanied by a document marked Exhibit A - Statement of Board Expectations, where Item 2, identified a board member's fundraising ability and Item 3, mentioned avoidance of appearance of conflicts of interest. Two other documents included one which was adopted by the Board on Apr 2007, requiring all members joining the Board be committed to fundraising with personal contributions of an annual minimum of $7,500, which includes a minimum of $1,200 annually to the organization's President's Council of Friends for Life, and that the annual amount should be raised from solicitations from individuals, corporations, and foundations. The other document, an interim conflict of interest guideline, dated Sept 2005, addressed Item 3 of the statement of Board Expectations. Agencies such as Housing Works, the HIV Law Project, Harlem United, and Smart University (Woman's Program) all had client or consumer representatives on their Board of Directors. The Denver Principles, a Bill of Rights for people with HIV/AIDS developed by the National Association of People With AIDS, was adopted when people with AIDS and AIDS Related Complications gathered in Denver, CO in 1983. It established guidelines for service providers of treatment, care, and inclusion in their treatment and care, and expectations of care for those afflicted. As a signatory of the Principles, GMHC had been in violation. The Principles specified that clients who are, "involved in every level of AIDS decision-making and specifically serve on boards of directors of provider organizations; become equal partners with our health care providers and service organizations; and help develop and implement the necessary services and programs that will enhance the quality of our daily lives." "It shows strength in GMHC that they're embracing all parts of the GMHC community," Rivera said. "Hopefully GMHC's action will be an example to other organizations. "I think this shows that people with HIV can affect change and are not the victims people sometimes think we are." Expressing his feelings about the decision, Joseph Sellman, a HIV-positive GMHC client and CAB secretary, said, "I'm elated. This is in line with the Denver Principles."