A Labor of Love
For the Kids
Love Heals, the Alison Gertz Foundation for AIDS Education,
empowers young people in New York to make informed choices by
educating them about HIV/AIDS. We visit schools and community
groups to reach both young people and those individuals who impact
their lives. We place special emphasis on outreach to high-risk
communities.
Love Heals believes that HIV/AIDS education is the right of every person and that it should be taught in a safe and neutral atmosphere, in a nonjudgmental manner, and within the context of comprehensive sexuality education.
Love Heals also believes that quality HIV/AIDS education must respect and value diversity, teach tolerance, dispel stigma, foster self-esteem, and empower the individual.
For Ali
Alison Gertz was infected with HIV through a single sexual encounter when she was 16. Soon after discovering that she had AIDS, Ali made her story public in an effort to help others and quickly rose to become an internationally recognized spokesperson for AIDS awareness and prevention.
Ali devoted her final years to providing young people with the information they needed to protect themselves—information that could have protected her from contracting HIV. She knew that if it had happened to her, it could happen to anyone.
After Ali died in 1992, her three best friends, Stefani Greenfield, Victoria Leacock Hoffman and Dini von Mueffling, continued her mission by cofounding Love Heals, the Alison Gertz Foundation for AIDS Education. Fifteen years later, Love Heals reaches approximately 50,000 young people each year through our speakers bureau, educational video and lesson guide, and girls empowerment program.
Our Staff
Jasmine Nielsen
Executive Director
Christopher Murphy
Deputy Director
Sara Flowers
Program Director,
LEAP for Girls
Justin Toro
Program Assistant, Speakers Bureau
Ellen Kim
Development Assistant
Emma Brenner-Malin
Program Assistant, LEAP for Girls
Our Board
Camille Bodiford
Stephen Chasanoff
Lauren DePalo
Ngoc Dinh
Richard E. Farley
Niko Flowers
Carol Gertz
Jerrold Gertz
Stefani Greenfield
Elizabeth Harrison
Victoria Leacock
Hoffman
Kate Meckler
James L. Neisloss
Jaci Wilson Reid
Eric Rudin
Karen Sobel
Paula Sutter
Robert L. Tucker
Teril Turner
Dini von Mueffling
Our Honorary Board
Andy Arons
John Demsey
Donny Deutsch
Howard Grossman
Shoshanna Gruss
Rory Kennedy
Darren Kipnis
Dany Levy
Daniel Loeb
Juliana Margulies
Alain Pinon
Richard Plepler
Molly Ringwald
Jordan Seaman
Gigi Stone
Martin Varsavsky
Christina Magliocco
von Oiste