Our Leadership

Nathaniel Anderson is the facilities director at San Francisco AIDS Foundation, leading a team overseeing facilities operations, budgets, maintenance and workplace safety and security.

For six years prior to his current role, Nathaniel led events production for AIDS/LifeCycle. Nathaniel has previously worked with several Bay Area arts organizations, including managing development and front of house operations for Museum of Craft and Design and development and special events for Kala Art Institute. He received his Master’s degree in arts administration from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University, Bloomington.

Ben Cabangun, MA thrives by cultivating creativity with teams. At his core, he’s a problem solver and human-centered design practitioner. At San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Ben is a cross-function thought partner and co-designs solutions to administrative and operations challenges across programs.

Prior to joining SFAF, Ben was managing director and principal investigator at the 28-year CDC-funded national HIV capacity building program, Capacity for Health. There, he led the design of organizational development and management consulting frameworks and training curricula integrating design thinking for HIV and public health contexts. His program design, implementation, and evaluation experience began in 2008 at the organization now known as the San Francisco Community Health Center. Since 2010, he has served on the San Francisco HIV Community Planning Council and has served terms as council co-chair, Jurisdictional Planning Committee Chair, and is currently co-chair of Community Engagement. He completed graduate school at the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University, and is an alumni of the CompassPoint Next Generation Leaders of Color, the Rockwood Leadership Institute, and the +Acumen Community of Social Innovators. He’s obsessed with indoor cycling, single origin coffee, yoga, reality TV, and happy hour.

Chris Damon is the controller at San Francisco AIDS Foundation, responsible for ensuring the financial health of the Foundation and performing fiduciary oversight. Chris provides accurate and timely financial information internally to inform programmatic, management and strategic decisions and oversees external financial reporting as required by various government organizations.

Chris has been with the Finance department of SFAF since 2001. Prior to this, he worked at for-profit organizations in various financial management roles. Chris earned his Bachelor’s degree in business with a concentration in accounting from San Jose State University.

Mike Discepola, MA directs the work of the Stonewall Project and Syringe Access and Disposal Services at San Francisco AIDS Foundation. Mike works with staff and community partners to research, design, plan and implement HIV and STI prevention, outpatient substance use and mental health programs in compliance with agency, state and federal standards and regulations. He is a member of the San Francisco HIV Community Planning Council (HCPC) and the Community Consulting Group for the Substance Use Research Section of the San Francisco Department of Public Health. He also supports the city-wide Syringe Access & Disposal Collaboration funded through the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

For more than 20 years, Mike has provided leadership to HIV prevention, substance use, harm reduction and community-based mental health programs for LGBTQ populations. In 2014 he served as the community co-chair for the Substance Work Group of the HIV Prevention Planning Council, from 2016 to 2018 he served a member of the California State HIV/AIDS Planning Group (CPG) and in 2017 he served as a member of San Francisco's Safer Injection Services (SIS) Task Force. In 2013, Mike was honored by KQED and Union Bank as a local Hero in the LGBT Communities of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Peita Dixon is responsible for the philanthropic engagement of individuals, corporate and institutional partners, and fundraising event participants to increase support for the vital services offered by San Francisco AIDS Foundation. She leads the Development team to meet or exceed annual fundraising goals and advises the Board of Directors, CEO, and Chief Advancement Officer on strategies to ensure the long-term financial stability of the foundation.

Peita has more than 13 years of experience developing strategic partnerships, live events, experiential marketing campaigns and brand activations for non-profit, arts and entertainment organizations. Prior to joining SFAF, Peita led events and corporate partnership for King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, managed partnerships and developed talent strategies for the leading sponsorship agent of Australia’s music festivals and events, and led sponsor-client services for the Australasia sponsorship division of Live Nation, the world’s largest entertainment company.

Tracy Evans, MBA oversees the logistics, financial responsibilities, fundraising, recruitment and communications of AIDS/LifeCycle. Tracy provides leadership to the teams at San Francisco AIDS Foundation and at the Los Angeles LGBT Center to grow the Ride, engage prior and current participants, meet and exceed fundraising goals and deliver a quality experience to everyone participating in this endurance challenge fundraising event.

Before joining AIDS/LifeCycle, Tracy was national director of development and fundraising with The Lupus Foundation of America. Before that, she spent more than ten years at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. While at LLS, she led a 14-chapter roll out of the National Hike for Discovery program, served as the national director/product manager, and was part of the team that created the wildly-successful Nike Women's Marathon.

Andrew Hattori, MBA leads the Marketing & Communications team at San Francisco AIDS Foundation which is responsible for recruiting, engaging and exciting clients, donors, and community members. His team works closely with members of every department to support program delivery, public policy work and fundraising activities.

Andrew joined SFAF with 15 years' experience developing communications strategies and marketing programs in nonprofit, corporate and small-business settings. He began his career focusing on cross-cultural communications with the Japan Exchange and Teaching program. Experiences he gained there, during his work with the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, and as a cyclist for AIDS/LifeCycle ignited his passion for LGBTQ causes, HIV activism, and social justice. Andrew holds a Bachelor of Arts from Middlebury College and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley-Haas School of Business. He lives in Oakland and enjoys cycling, improv, and the queer arts scene.

Jen Hecht, MPH ensures that programs are responding to key needs and trends as part of overseeing monitoring and evaluation at San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

Jen has more than 20 years of experience in public health with a focus on HIV/STIs, youth homelessness and substance use. Her work has evolved from direct service in settings such as needle exchange sites, street-based and mobile outreach and a community health clinic to include program development, monitoring and evaluation and community-based research. She has been working for many years on projects related to sexual health and dating apps and is a co-founder of Building Healthy Online Communities, a consortium of public health and app owners working together to further HIV and STI prevention. In addition to her work with dating apps, her research has focused on alcohol use in the queer community and development of structural interventions.

Ernest Hopkins leads the San Francisco AIDS Foundation national policy and legislative activities at the federal administrative and congressional levels, seeking appropriate levels of resource and sound public health policies that promote the health and wellness of San Franciscans living with and at risk for HIV.

Ernest marked 20 years at SFAF in 2017 having led federal policy and legislative activities since 1997. Prior to joining SFAF, Ernest was the director of health and treatment at the National Association for People with AIDS (NAPWA) in Washington, DC where he led clinical trial review and consultation at the inception of HIV antiretroviral development and availability, advocating for safety, effectiveness and affordability. Ernest leads and has led national advocacy coalitions like the National Black Gay Men's Advocacy Coalition (NBGMAC) and the Communities Advocating Emergency AIDS Relief (CAEAR). He has testified before congressional committees and advised Congress on legislative initiatives, earning him the Congressional Black Caucus's Leadership Award.

Julie Lifshay, MPH, PhD oversees the administration of San Francisco AIDS Foundation services for people living with HIV through programs including Black Health and Access HOPE Centers of Excellence, the Housing & Financial Benefits program, Positive Force, HIV Navigation Services and Lobby Services. Julie designs and implements models of care that assist people living with HIV to access and stay in medical care, adhere to HIV medications, learn how to live well with HIV, reduce isolation and find communities of support. Directing the Lobby Services program, she ensures that all visitors and clients to 1035 Market Street are welcomed, engaged, and linked to services both within and outside our organization. Julie is also an active member of San Francisco's Getting to Zero Coalition.

Prior to joining SFAF, Julie was the manager of health services at Centerforce, the nation's oldest nonprofit providing services to individuals, families and communities impacted by incarceration. While at Centerforce, she created nationally recognized model peer-led programs to prevent HIV and hepatitis C among people living in prison and to link them to care upon their release. Prior to that, Julie worked as a behavioral scientist at California's Sexually Transmitted Disease Control Branch in Richmond, California and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Courtney Mulhern-Pearson, MPH is responsible for directing local and statewide policy work at San Francisco AIDS Foundation. Courtney leads partnership opportunities related to health care reform and advocates for full funding of vital HIV care and prevention programs in the California and San Francisco budgets as well as legislation to assure appropriate state and local policy responses to the HIV epidemic.

Prior to joining SFAF, Courtney worked at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on the implementation of Medicare Part D, with a focus on transitioning people with HIV and providing outreach to their providers. She received her Master's degree in public health with an emphasis on health policy from the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley.

Joshua O’Neal, MA is the director of sexual health services at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. In addition to overseeing sexual health services, he activates innovative strategies to improve healthcare experiences.

Joshua has more than 10 years of experience in public health and community-based clinical settings, working as a tireless advocate for Queer and Trans communities, people in the sex trade, and people who use substances. His professional and academic work related to condom fit, HIV-testing technologies, sex positivity and clinical best practices for GBTQ communities have been published in the Journal of Clinical Virology, Journal of AIDS, and Springer Journal’s Current HIV/AIDS Reports. A passionate educator, Joshua teaches human sexuality courses at the City College of San Francisco and presents and trains across local and national stages.

Jody Schaffer, MS is responsible for volunteer operations at San Francisco AIDS Foundation including engagement, development and management of volunteers serving in all areas of the Foundation. In collaboration with a team of volunteer leaders, she establishes policies, processes and strategies for meeting our mission and goals through volunteer engagement. Jody cultivates corporate volunteer partnerships that enhance services to clients, help meet fundraising goals and educates the wider San Francisco community about the Foundation’s work.

Jody's early career as a social worker in Chicago’s inner-city shaped her passion for social justice and improving the health of people in her community. Following that experience, she began a 20-year tenure at Adventist Midwest Health, first growing a teen volunteer program, then leading front-line staff in a busy emergency room, and ultimately building and managing a successful volunteer program for a newly built hospital. Outside of work, you are likely to find her on a hiking trail, at a local museum or exploring her new love, California.

Kashi Senthilnatha is responsible for directing the information technology and electronic health records team at San Francisco AIDS Foundation. He provides strategic leadership across administration and programs in the areas of technology infrastructure and security, process optimization, efficient solutions planning and integration, vendor relations, and responsive end-user support.

Prior to joining SFAF, Kashi led the IT department at Kindred AI and the engineering team at IPSOFACTO IT Services. In 2015, Kashi returned from 18 years of service and study as a monk at the Hindu monastery and theological seminary on Kauai island, where he co-wrote, edited, and designed publications, traveled and taught philosophy and meditation, and brought the organization to the forefront of technology in support of its wide array of programs.

Helen Waishkey is responsible for compliance and privacy at San Francisco AIDS Foundation. She is also responsible for the Foundation's 340B drug program. She helps to ensure the Foundation is contracting with local pharmacies to better serve its members.

Prior to joining SFAF, Helen has worked in the MAPD, PDP, and PBM Compliance industry dealing daily with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regulators and state agencies in multiple states.

Larry Zapatka, MBA, MPHA oversees the development and implementation of agency-wide and departmental budgets, and provides leadership in negotiating agreements with city, state and federal agencies. Working with the accounting department, he maintains the highest level of compliance and accountability for all external auditing practices.

Before his more than 25 years at SFAF, Larry was the commander of troops at Raymond W. Bliss Army Community Hospital at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. He also held the position of Chief- Plans, Training, Mobilization & Security in which he oversaw company-wide annual military training, security clearance processing and during the first Gulf War, managed the logistics for the medical processing of all Army Reserve, National Guard and Active Duty members from the state of Arizona before they were deployed to the Middle East during the first Gulf War. Larry also has served as an EMT for a municipal service and as a manager in the banking industry.