December 16, 2024
Friends Welcomes Congresswoman Barbara Lee to Board of Directors
Friends is honored to announce that global health and justice champion Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) will join its Board of Directors, effective January 4, 2025.
Congresswoman Lee has represented California’s 12th District (formerly 13th) since 1998. She is the highest ranking African American woman appointed to Democratic leadership positions, serving as co-chair of the House Policy and Steering Committee. She also serves on the House Budget Committee and the House Appropriations Committee.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee
Congresswoman Lee is a fierce advocate for ending the HIV epidemic in the United States and globally, and she has been among the most effective advocates for global health in Congress. Congresswoman Lee has authored or co-authored every major piece of HIV/AIDS legislation since joining Congress. She played an essential role in creation of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. In 2011, Congresswoman Lee formed the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus, which she has co-chaired.
“Congresswoman Barbara Lee has always been our champion. She has persevered in her dedication to health equity and social justice. She brings an astounding level of experience, dedication and expertise to our work,” said Friends President and CEO Chris Collins. “We are extremely honored to welcome her to the Friends board.”
In addition to her work on HIV/AIDS, Congresswoman Lee has long advocated for legislative action to end poverty. In 2007, she worked with a diverse coalition of lawmakers to create the Out of Poverty Caucus. In 2013, she became chair of the Democratic Whip Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity. As chair, she led more than 100 members of Congress in crafting and advancing legislation to lift millions of American families out of poverty.
Congresswoman Lee was elected to the California State Assembly in 1990 and served until 1996, when she was elected to the State Senate. As a California legislator, Congresswoman Lee authored 67 bills and resolutions that were signed into law by Republican Governor Pete Wilson.
Congresswoman Lee was born in El Paso, Texas. After grammar school, she moved to San Fernando, California and worked with the local NAACP to integrate her high school cheerleading squad. As a single mother raising two sons, Congresswoman Lee attended Mills College and as president of its Black Student Union, she invited Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman elected to Congress, to speak on campus. As a result of this meeting, Congresswoman Lee registered to vote and worked on Congresswoman Chisholm’s historic presidential campaign, including serving as her delegate at the 1972 Democratic National Convention in Miami, Florida.
Congresswoman Lee received her Master of Social Work degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
“Congresswoman Lee’s unparalleled breadth of knowledge and understanding of U.S. global health policy will be invaluable to Friends,” said Dr. Jeffrey L. Sturchio, Friends’ Board chair and past chairman and CEO of Rabin Martin, a global health impact consultancy. “We warmly welcome her and are eager to begin our work together.”
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ABOUT FRIENDS OF THE GLOBAL FIGHT AGAINST AIDS, TUBERCULOSIS AND MALARIA:
Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria advocates for U.S. support of the Global Fund, and the goal to end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. For more information about Friends of the Global Fight, visit www.theglobalfight.org.
ABOUT THE GLOBAL FUND:
The Global Fund is a worldwide partnership to defeat HIV, TB and malaria and ensure a healthier, safer, more equitable future for all. The partnership has saved 65 million lives since its founding in 2002. It raises and invests more than US$5 billion a year to fight the deadliest infectious diseases, challenges the injustice that fuels them, and strengthens health systems and pandemic preparedness in more than 100 of the hardest hit countries. The Global Fund unites world leaders, communities, civil society, health workers and the private sector to find solutions that have the most impact, and it takes them to scale worldwide. Learn more.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Rachel Irwin
[email protected]