March 19, 2009

Kathy Ahearn-O'Brien

Hyacinth AIDS Foundation's Board President, Jeri Thomas, announced on March 16
that Kathy Ahearn-O`Brien, of Montclair, New Jersey, has been named the
Foundation's new executive director, effective immediately. Ms. O`Brien succeeds
Riki E. Jacobs, who held the position since 1993. Ms. Jacobs, who was undergoing
treatment for ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), died on March 14.

Kathy Ahearn-O`Brien joined Hyacinth AIDS Foundation as an event organizer for
AIDS WALK New Jersey in 1997. Kathy's responsibilities at Hyacinth have included
grants management, as well as supervision and coordination of social services at
the agency's six regional offices. She assumed the position of Director of Human
Resources in 2005 and was promoted to Senior Director of Finance and
Administration in 2007. Before joining Hyacinth, Kathy was Director of Human
Resources for two leading retail organizations in the Northeast for over ten
years. Kathy holds a Masters degree in Public Administration from Rutgers
University and is a 2007 Fellow of Leadership New Jersey.

"This organization is very fortunate that one of Riki Jacobs many skills was her
ability to recruit and retain such an excellent staff," stated Jeri Thomas.
"Kathy brings a depth of knowledge and broad range of experience to the
challenging field of HIV/AIDS. Because she moved through the ranks these last 10
years, her intimate familiarity with this organization will certainly serve her
well." Ms. Thomas continued, "The people of New Jersey owe Riki Jacobs a
tremendous debt of gratitude for her two decades of leadership fighting for the
care, rights and benefits of people living with HIV/AIDS. I can think of no
better-qualified individual than Kathy to build on Riki's solid record of
achievement as we continue helping the men, women and children living with
HIV/AIDS in New Jersey. AIDS is still a big public health problem in our state.
We rank 5th in the nation in the number of infections, and number one in the
percentage of women living with HIV/AIDS, so there is still much to do."

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