AIDS Advocate and Public Affairs Veteran Jim Jennings Joins Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation as Chief Operating Officer

The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation announced on Monday that Jim Jennings, a 30-year veteran in public affairs and an AIDS advocate, has joined the foundation as its chief operating officer. Jennings, who lost his partner to AIDS-related illness in 1983, created the first AIDS specialty practice in the public relations industry at Hill & Knowlton in 1986. During his 28 years with Hill & Knowlton, Jennings launched antiretroviral and other HIV/AIDS-related drugs, represented AIDS advocacy groups and treatment centers and provided media counsel for several international conferences. "For more than three decades, Jim has proven his talents as a world-class strategist, communicator and manager whose commitment to HIV/AIDS is unparalleled," Kate Carr, president and CEO of the foundation, said. "This is a critical time in the battle against HIV/AIDS ... and it's a great honor to join a foundation that is not only the foremost children's organization funding HIV/AIDS research in the United States, but the leader in preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV around the globe," Jennings said. The foundation's mother-to-child HIV transmission program now operates at 250 sites in 17 nations (EGPAF release, 1/27).