Bruce Weiss, Executive Director

Recipient of the 2006 Capital Pride Hero Award honoring LGBT leaders, Weiss has provided leadership to the HIV/AIDS community in Washington, D.C., for more than a decade. He served for several years as the Executive Director of SMYAL (Sexual Minority Youth Action League), overseeing major growth in their programs, staffing and funding. He later became the Director of the Whitman-Walker Clinic of Northern Virginia, a community health clinic focused on HIV and LGBT health care. Most recently, he was Director of Community Health at D.C.’s Whitman-Walker Clinic.

Weiss has an exceptional knowledge of fundraising, board development, and programmatic activities, and holds a Masters in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania, and a graduate certificate in non-profit management from Georgetown University.

“I feel very fortunate to be joining such a vibrant organization; Chicago is a great city and the TPAN staff, board of directors and volunteers inspired me with their energy and passion the moment I walked through the front door. It is a remarkable organization providing important HIV prevention and care services.”

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David Arzola, Director of Finance and Operations

Biography pending, please check back soon!

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Jeff Berry, Director of Publications

Jeff has been a member of TPAN since 1990, and began working as a volunteer in July of 1992. He joined the staff in November of that year as production assistant for Positively Aware magazine. He went on to oversee advertising and distribution of Positively Aware, and served as webmaster for the agency’s website for five years. He was appointed Interim Editor of Positively Aware in September 2004, and promoted to Director of Publications and Editor of Positively Aware and Positively Aware en Español in April of 2005. He was the first recipient of the TPAN Award of Excellence in 2003.

Jeff moved to Chicago in 1981 from his hometown of Ada, Michigan, outside of Grand Rapids. Working many years in Chicago as a club DJ, he was awarded Gay Chicago’s DJ of the Year in 1990. He attended Michigan State University, and received a B.A. in 1991 from Columbia College, Chicago. Jeff is an active member of the AIDS Treatment Activist’s Drug Development Committee, and a speaker and presenter for various community educational forums, panels and presentations. He has contributed to several other HIV-related publications and websites, including The Body. Jeff tested positive in 1989, and credits his continued good health to his family, friends, his partner in life Stephen, working at TPAN, and a sense of humor.

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Bill Farrand, Director of Client Services

Bill joined TPAN in January of 2007, coming most recently from an executive position with a large regional financial institution. At TPAN he has held the positions of Service Directory Coordinator and Prevention Manager and has written for Positively Aware.

A native of Springfield, Il., he lived in New York City and San Francisco before settling in Chicago in 1998. Here he has been active with the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus, where he served as a board member and treasurer in 2002-2003, as well as with Windy City Performing Arts and the Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association.

He holds a Bachelors Degree from Illinois Wesleyan and is currently completing a Masters in Community Counseling at Northeastern Illinois University. Having lived with HIV for over two decades, he is very excited to be working with TPAN and to have the opportunity to make a difference in the HIV community.

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Brad McLaughlin, Director of Development

Biography pending, please check back soon!

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Rhett Lindsay, Associate Director of Communications and Special Events

Rhett Lindsay came to Chicago in 2000 after graduating with a degree in Public Relations from West Virginia University.  Since his arrival in the Windy City, he has served as trade show coordinator for a large trade show management company, account executive for a public relations agency, and coordinator of orientation programs at a local college.  Rhett joined TPAN in August 2006, just four weeks before the Aware Affair Gala.  Not only does he plan major events for TPAN, but he also dedicates his volunteer time as the director of Chicago’s award-winning Righteously Outrageous Twirling Corps, a campy, all-male, rifle precision drill troupe that performs for Chicago’s LGBT events (www.rotcchicago.org).

You might recognize his unique name from the book/movie “Gone With The Wind” starring Clarke Gable as the character Rhett Butler.  Additionally, his first name, Ashley, is also derived from another male character in film, Ashley Wilkes.  His family, friends and co-workers call him Rhett, Ashley, Ashley Rhett, or Scarlett.

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Joe Benjamin, Psychosocial Coordinator

Joe has been working in HIV services for six years, beginning as an HIV case manager and eventually becoming a peer counselor for patients on topics around treatment adherence, sexual risk reduction, disclosure, and overall coping with HIV. He has facilitated several education groups for people recently diagnosed with HIV and has experience in behavioral research related to HIV, having worked on a CDC study looking at the effectiveness of peer counseling on medication adherence and overall health maintenance.

His counseling and group facilitation experience moved him to the training field where, in conjunction with the Illinois Department of Public Health, he helped develop and facilitate trainings on Prevention for Positives across the state of Illinois. His passion, helping people live well with HIV, has led him to his current role at TPAN of Psychosocial Coordinator.

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Kevin Bernal, Supportive Services Case Manager

Kevin relocated to Chicago from California in 1989 after being transferred by a large telecommunications company. After working in the finance department there for about ten years he decided to start playing music for a living and became a DJ here in chicago playing at a few of the popular nighclubs. Kevin joined TPAN in February 2007 as a Prevention Outreach worker and is currently a Supportive Services Case Manager.

He hopes that his experience and his support will encourage others in his community to get tested regularly, to know their HIV status, and to give those that do test positive assistance and hope for a healthy future.

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Andre Crowder, POWER Outreach/Program Assistant

Andre Crowder recently relocated to the Chicago area from the city of Detroit.  He has been in the HIV profession since January 2004.  He began working for The Horizon's Project, a community-based program affiliated with Wayne State University and Children's Hospital of Michigan offering a comprehensive continuum of medical care, ancillary, prevention and outreach services to at-risk and HIV+ youth ages 13-24.  While working with the Horizon’s Project as a Research assistant he had the ability to have an impact on the lives of the youth he serviced. He later was hired as a Patient Advocate doing intakes, counseling and testing, and building trusting relationships with his clients. He worked on many projects and has certifications in many areas such as motivational interviewing, and group facilitation.

Andre is currently pursuing a Bachelors degree in Community Development and he wants to continue to work hard to help make a difference in someone's life that's infected or affected with HIV.

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Joe Fierke, Service Directory and Distribution Coordinator

Joe started his work with HIV/AIDS in 1998 when he began volunteering with a Planned Parenthood peer education group. In the Seattle area he taught other high school teens about STDs, and HIV/AIDS. This then lead into his being hired to also work within the clinic as a Patient Care Coordinator. In 2001 he moved to Los Angeles to finish his schooling pursuing other creative endeavors. After graduation and some job experimentation Joe felt the need to help out the community again. In 2005 he began working with an MSM research study at USC hoping to prevent the spread of HIV through the use of an interactive educational DVD. By 2007 he moved to Chicago to begin a new chapter in his life, one that was a bit more real and not so much Hollywood, and found TPAN was the place that he wanted to continue his work. After some perseverance he became the distribution coordinator for the national publication Positively Aware.

Joe feels HIV can be reduced throughout the world through education and proper knowledge which both TPAN and the publication Positively Aware come highly into play.

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Anthony Galloway, Prevention Coordinator

Anthony, a native of East St. Louis, IL served as President of St. Louis Black Pride from 2003-2006, Vice President for Pride St. Louis, 2007 and a long time advocate for sexual minorities and people of color. He is passionate about his work in HIV prevention and other sexually transmitted infections.

In October of 2007, Anthony decided to leave his hometown of St. Louis to pursue a new life in Chicago. Currently he is a student at DePaul University and set to graduate in March of 2009. Anthony has worked in sexual health and HIV education for nine years working for Blacks Assisting Blacks Against AIDS and Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region to both organizations he credits as being a part of his professional growth.

In 2004, at the age of 23, Anthony was nationally recognized by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, for creating change in his community. This was one of his proudest moments. He is ecstatic about his new role at TPAN and looks forward to the possibilities. Anthony is also a crazy Janet Jackson fan.

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Jennifer Grimes, Client Services Manager

Originally from Colorado, Jennie has worked in Chicago’s HIV services for over four years and joined TPAN in the summer of 2006. Jennie has been involved in HIV activities since 1995 and has worked in a variety of medical, policy and volunteer settings across the country, including Los Angeles, New York City, Washington D.C. and Denver.  She received her undergraduate degree in sociology and race & ethnic studies from the University of Redlands in southern California in 2002. Jennie received her Master’s in Sociology from DePaul University with an emphasis in health care discrepancies in 2003.  In her free time, Jennie enjoys walking her miniature dachshund named Weiner, participating in civil disobedience and HIV advocacy, watching sports and running.

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Juan José López, Prevention Outreach

Juan José L ópez graduated cum laude from NEIU in May 2008 with a B.A. in Social Work.  José, as he likes to be called, first came to TPAN as an intern in August 2007 and enjoying himself so much, decided to work at TPAN.  José began his HIV/AIDS career working for Minority Outreach Intervention Project as an outreach worker in 2000 and 2001, then becoming a group facilitator in 2002. 
Much of José experience comes from volunteering.  José has and in some cases continues to volunteer at various organizations such as Horizons, Howard Brown, A.L.M.A., El Valor, Project Vida, University of Illinois at Chicago, and George Washington University in Washington D.C.  These volunteer experiences range from tutoring children in math, ranging from 7 to 12 in ages to participating in research projects and conducting them as well.  And yes, Jose even has volunteered at TPAN.

In addition to his work and volunteer experiences, José is bi-lingual, speaking both English and Spanish.  José also knows sign-language and will be entering a certificate program to certify himself as a sign-language interpreter.

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Brad Mazzie, Website Administrator

Brad came to TPAN through Loyola University's community based Work Study program. He is currently a full time student at Loyola working on his degree in Social Psychology with a Minor in Business Management. After graduation he expects to pursue a PhD in I/O Psychology.

Brad's technical experience comes for years of working independently as a website designer/administrator for other non-profit organizations and small business here in Chicago, and in the Los Angeles Area. He also gained a great deal of valuable GLBT Community experience from years of working as General Manager at a local Nightclub and Professional DJ.

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Billy Minshall, Treatment Education Coordinator

Billy began as a volunteer with TPAN in the fall of 2005.During this time he attended TEAM (Treatment Education Advocacy Management), TPAN’s intensive week long HIV course. Upon completion, he worked briefly in distribution for Positively Aware, the journal of Test Positive Aware Network. He then took a job as an HIV Test Counselor at the Cook County Jail where he worked for nearly two years. He has happily returned to TPAN to work in prevention outreach with people whom he considers to be extended family.

Diagnosed positive in 1996 at the age of 21, Billy is no stranger to the daily challenges of being an HIV survivor. Through compassion and personal experience, he hopes to eradicate some of the ignorance that continues to plague HIV and AIDS.

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Charlotte Moore, POWER Program Manager

Charlotte has been in social services for over 19 years with the bulk of her work in substance abuse treatment and mental health and has spent the last three years teaching Master’s level students in the Counseling Program at Argosy University. She obtained her Master’s in Counseling from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology, where she is currently completing her dissertation for a Doctoral degree in Counseling Supervision and Education. Charlotte is a Licensed Professional Counselor, a Certified Addictions Counselor and holds several other specialty certifications in substance abuse and mental health treatment. She joined TPAN in May of 2009 and is very happy to be working here and helping the P.O.W.E.R program to exceed its expectations.

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Elise Niedermeier, Americorps Member

Elise joined TPAN in August 2008 as an AmeriCorps member with the National AIDS Fund. Prior to her arrival in Chicago, Elise worked as a camp counselor and student group leader, and also volunteered with the AIDS Network of Madison. She earned her undergraduate degree in Women’s Studies, LGBT Studies and Social Welfare from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in May of 2008.

When she’s not nursing her love of coffee, Elise can be often be found reading, running or causing kitchen disasters.

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Sue Saltmarsh, Editorial Assistant

Sue Saltmarsh began a new chapter in her job life, coming to TPAN in 2004 after 13 years of experience working in the HIV/AIDS community as an Alternative/Complementary Therapies practitioner.

Born in Ohio, a Midwestern girl all her life, she grew up with an avid interest in the arts and graduated from the De Paul/Goodman School of Drama in Costuming in 1983. For the next 9 years, she toured the globe as the first Wardrobe Supervisor for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. For those who believe that “life on tour” is a glamorous adventure, she rolls her eyes, while admitting that without her years at HSDC, she never would’ve seen even a fraction of the places she visited on tour.

In the midst of a spiritual awakening and after several unsatisfactory experiences with allopathic medicine, she combined her spiritual quest with a growing interest in herbal and natural healing and, in 1991, migrated to New Mexico to attend the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine. Upon her certification as a clinical herbalist, she returned to her beloved Chicago home and began her experiential education in intuitive chakra balancing. She worked for 3 years as an herbalist at the AIDS Alternative Health Project and from 1993 - 2005 as herbalist, energy worker and ear candler at Project Vida. She has also taught classes in herbal medicine, conducted seminars and presentations about alternative/integrative healing and maintains a small but cherished private practice.

In addition to her work as a healer, Sue also writes short stories, receiving an honorable mention in the 2004 WBEZ “Stories On Stage” contest. She hopes to use her writing ability to create entertaining and informative memos at TPAN and to contribute to Positively Aware Magazine.

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James Spiven, CADC, POWER Group Facilitator

James Spiven is an IAODAPCA Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor.  James was born and raised in the small Ohio Town of Warren.  He graduated from Warren G. Harding High School, and went on to attend Kent State University, Kent Ohio, and Central State University in Wilberforce Ohio, where he starred in baseball. James had further aspirations as a ball player until his addictive lifestyle took control of his life.  After being in slavery the better part of his adult life, James turned his world over to the will of God. James has been working in the field of Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (MISA) for ten years. First he began working for Ohio Mental Health and Retardation Board, as Project Coordinator of Outreach Program.  Later James relocated to Chicago, were he began working at Haymarket Center. There he received his IAODAPCA CADC.  James is currently in his last year’s work toward achieving a BA degree.

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Louis Spraggins, Treatment Education Coordinator

Louis, born and raised most of his life in Chicago, has been working diligently in the HIV/AIDS struggle since 1993 when he was first recruited as a Youth Case Manager for African American pregnant &/or parenting teens of Chicago’s south side community. In this role and many others since, Louis has shared information in workshops at grammar & high schools, churches, street corners & any other places where he could reach people at risk for HIV infection or already infected and trying to navigate through unfamiliar and often uncomfortable territory.    

Louis sero-converted and learned of his HIV+ status in 2001, but didn’t allow it to stop or slow his efforts. If anything, this new awareness pushed him to work harder. 

In May of 2003 Louis moved into more direct care as a Preventive Health Consultant, as which, he provided intensive client-centered counseling, case management & education for HIV infected & affected Young African American men who have sex with other men (YAAMSM) throughout the south & west side communities of Chicago. From 2003 to 2005 Louis attended the African American HIV University at the Black AIDS Institute in Los Angeles, where he feels he gained “extensive knowledge in the science of HIV & how to better share this knowledge with others, especially Black Folks.” Louis is a welcome addition to TPAN’s staff, the TEAM & M-TEAM Programs & the Pfizer ConnectHIV Project. 

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Greg Strait, Finance & Operations Assistant

Greg joined TPAN in January of 2009, a former Finance Analyst at a global financial institution. At TPAN he will be furthering his career in finance while learning the many aspects of non-profit fiscal management. He is also in the process of obtaining his national certification in Personal Training through The American Council on Exercise.

Having lived in Illinois all of his life, he moved to Chicago in 1998 and has remained within close proximity of TPAN for the last decade. Greg is very excited to be working in an environment that is so accepting and is committed to making a difference in the community.

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Enid Vázquez, Associate Editor

Enid Vázquez is associate editor of Positively Aware. She is HIV-negative and a single mom to a beautiful German shepherd mix she found in her yard, Nico, and a cuddly orange purr ball who walked in off the street, Marmalade. She earned her journalism degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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Paul Wiemerslage, LSW, Medical Case Manager

A Chicago native, Paul has been involved in the HIV community and LGBTQ activism since the early 90’s. He received his Bachelors degree in Theatre Arts at Eastern Illinois University, and spent time performing in and around Chicago. You may remember him from such plays as “Cannibal Cheerleaders on Crack,” and such short films as “Doggnapp'd.” After realizing he enjoyed such things as food and money, he decided upon a career change.

He is a recent graduate of the Jane Addams College of Social Work at UIC, where he received his Masters degree with an emphasis on mental health. He spent his internships providing case management and psychotherapy services at Alexian Brothers Bonaventure House, and the Howard Brown Health Center. Paul is truly excited to be a part of TPAN, and is pleased to be able to continue his dedication to the HIV and LGBTQ communities.

Paul is owned by a spoiled rotten rat terrier named Rory, and is obsessed with lousy movies. Do not get him started talking about “The Giant Claw” or anything featuring zombies.

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Michelle Williams, BA, CADC, POWER Group Facilitator

Michelle brings the benefits of her experience, professional training and people skills to her position as Group Facilitator and Counselor for the POWER Program.

Michelle Williams acquired a Bachelors degree in Behavioral Sciences at National-Louis University. After completing her undergrad program she decided to shift her concentration towards Healthcare Administration in order to support creating more programs for women.

She has been working in the social services field for over ten years and, prior to coming to TPAN, she worked with Heartland Alliance, which provided valuable experience. Michelle has a unique gift in relating to her clients not just from the standpoint of education and training, but also bringing her personal recovery process to her work. Knowing how challenging recovery can be, she is truly able to meet the clients where they are in their process without judgment and with compassion. She is especially interested in helping to develop the POWER Program into a vibrant source of a continuum of care which will result in her clients becoming healthier, more successful people and she provides a great example for them to follow.

Michelle is currently applying her boundless, positive energy not only to her job at TPAN, but also to the pursuit of her Masters degree in Healthcare Administration at National Louis University. And when she’s not working, studying, or caring for her elderly mother, she might be found dancing or playing dominoes.

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Derek Worley, Education Coordinator

Derek came to Chicago from New York City in 1996, where he made his living in the New York theatre and toured with several national productions. In NYC, he and his partner were actively involved with GMHC and various other political community organizations. Upon arriving in Chicago and wanting to leave the theatrical industry, he began volunteering for TPAN in his spare time. Derek was impressed by the organization's ability to serve diverse populations of the community and still retain the feeling of a true “grass-roots” organization. With his first staff position he created a “back-to-work” program to place HIV positive people in jobs with HIV-sensitive companies. He has since worked as a hotline counselor, testing coordinator and. is currently the Education Coordinator and coordinates all educational efforts.

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