Mark Ishaug Leaves AIDS Foundation; David Munar Slated to Assume Top Job

(Chicago, IL) – November 23, 2010. AIDS Foundation of Chicago President Mark Ishaug is leaving his job and the organization’s board of directors has appointed agency vice president David Munar to the president’s post.

Ishaug will leave the AIDS Foundation in 2011 to become chief of AIDS United, a new Washington, DC-based national organization which emerged from the merger between the National AIDS Fund and AIDS Action.

Munar will take over on February 1, 2011

“David is a highly respected local and national leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS and we are confident in his abilities to continue Mark’s excellent stewardship of AFC’s trailblazing work,” said Aaron Baker, Chairman of the AFC Board of Directors.

Ishaug has worked at the city’s top AIDS advocacy group for 20 years, the last 12 as its president.

Munar, who has worked at AFC since 1991, currently oversees the agency’s $16 million portfolio of care, prevention, and policy programs and services.

“I am truly honored by this opportunity and humbled by the many challenges our city and nation face to improve the health and lives of the millions affected by the HIV crisis at home and abroad,” Munar said.

In 2007, Munar helped found the Coalition for a National AIDS Strategy, which mobilized advocates in behalf of a national plan of action against HIV/AIDS. With the Obama Administration’s announcement earlier this year of the nation’s first HIV/AIDS Strategy, Munar and colleagues are now pushing for its full implementation.

“As a Latino gay man living with HIV, I know firsthand the fear and isolation of an HIV diagnosis and the service gaps that persist in communities of color and for disproportionately affected populations,” Munar said.

In 2010, the International AIDS Society selected Munar to serve on the 2012 International AIDS Conference Coordinating Committee. Additionally, POZ Magazine named him one of its 100 most influential AIDS advocates, while Mayor Richard M. Daley inducted him into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame.

“I bring to my work a passion for social justice and commitment to improve the quality of life for everyone, regardless of their social status, obstacles, or circumstances,” Munar said.

Munar will become the fourth chief executive of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago in its 25-year history. Marcia Lipetz served as AFC’s first chief executive from 1986 to 1991; Karen Fishman led AFC from 1991 to 1998; Ishaug has led the organization since 1998.