Paul Kawata

In 2009, Paul Akio Kawata, the longest serving HIV/AIDS executive director in the U.S., will honors his 20^th anniversary as head of the National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC). Under his guidance, NMAC, the only national organization dedicated to building leadership in communities of color to address the challenges of HIV/AIDS, has become a powerful voice in Washington, DC for over 3,000 HIV/AIDS organizations throughout the country. The agency also provides a comprehensive array technical assistance programs and services; conferences; trainings; and printed and online resource materials.

A leading HIV/AIDS advocate, Kawata has represented NMAC in many of the most significant legislative achievements in the fight against HIV/AIDS. These include the passage and renewal of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act; the Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA) Act; the Americans with Disabilities Act; and the Congressional Black Caucus/Congressional Hispanic Caucus's (CBC/CHC) expansion of federal funding for HIV/AIDS programs in communities of color.

Prior to joining NMAC, Kawata served as founding executive director of the National AIDS Network, the first national organization dedicated to developing the capability and effectiveness of community-based leaders in the fight against AIDS, from 1985-1989. During his tenure, he planned and implemented three consecutive, annual National Skills Building Conferences-the first of their kind in the world-and recruited the Ad Council to work on the inaugural national HIV/AIDS public service campaign. He also organized and supported the National AIDS Fund, the single largest private philanthropic partnership in the history of the epidemic.

Kawata began his professional career, in 1983, as a staff liaison in the Office of the Mayor, in Seattle, WA. During his tenure, he developed relationships between the Mayor's Office and official city commissions, representing various LBGT, women's and minority constituency groups, and initiating the first comprehensive HIV/AIDS policies to be adopted by a major city in the country.

He currently is a member of the board for the Collin Higgins Foundation and the Management Assistance Group, and was a founding board member of both the National Association of People with AIDS and the National AIDS Fund. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of the Pacific, in Los Angeles, CA, with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and later earned a Master of Arts degree in urban planning, from Antioch University.

Kawata has received numerous awards recognizing his leadership in the field of AIDS advocacy, including both the Surgeon General's Award and the ATR Wellness Project Leadership Award, in 2000. Other honors include: the Japanese American Citizen's League, Citizen of the Biennium, in 1999; the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association Award for Person of the Year, in 1998; the HealthWatch Award for Outstanding Leadership in Minority Health, in 1996; the Keys to the City, from the City of New Orleans, in 1996; and the Michael Hirsch Award, in 1990.