James M. Murphy
Chair, Board of Directors

James Murphy, who is Vice President, Business Affairs, for Clear Channel Broadcasting, Inc. - Los Angeles Radio, is responsible for the oversight of the financial operations of more than 20 radio stations in the Southern California region. The region he manages employs more than 1,000 Southern Californians in Los Angeles (including stations KIIS-FM, KFI-AM, KYSR-FM, KOST-FM, KBIG-FM, KHHT-FM, KLAC-AM and KXTA/XETRA-AM), Riverside (KGGI-FM, KTDD-AM and KDIF-AM), Santa Barbara (eight local stations) and the Antelope Valley (six local stations).

Murphy is also responsible for the execution of more than 250 Clear Channel events annually, including: KIIS-FM's Wango Tango; the Radio Music Awards TV Show, a two-hour NBC telecast broadcast every October; the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval, a street festival that draws more than 400,000 people each year; and various other major concerts and events throughout the year.

Elected to the APLA Board of Directors in October of 2001, Murphy most recently served two, one-year terms as Board Treasurer. He is a member of the Executive Board for The Trevor Project, a non-profit established to promote tolerance for gay and questioning teenagers and to aid in suicide prevention among that group. He also serves on the Board of HALSA (HIV/AIDS Legal Services Alliance, Inc.).

A graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, Murphy currently resides in West Hollywood.

Craig E. Thompson joined APLA as Chief Operating Officer in 1997 and became the Executive Director in July 1998. As the leader of one of the largest HIV/AIDS service organizations in the United States, he oversees all APLA operations, including health education and HIV prevention, government affairs, client and community services, fund development, finance and communications.

Prior to joining APLA, Thompson was Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) from 1992 to 1997. While at AHF, he played a lead role in establishing and operating Positive Healthcare, the first Medicaid managed care program in the U.S. for persons with AIDS.

From 1988 to 1992, Thompson was employed by Security Pacific Burns Fry, an investment banking firm, working as part of the advisory team in mergers and acquisitions.

Thompson received a bachelor's degree in political science from Washington State University and graduate degrees from the University of Washington School of Law and New York University School of Law. He also earned a master's degree in business administration from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Sona Chandwani joined APLA in 2003 as Chief Financial Officer. She oversees the financial activities of the organization.

Prior to joining APLA, Chandwani worked in a strategic planning capacity with various non-profits, including the Austin Museum of Art and most recently, The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.

From 1992 to 1996, she worked at Arthur Andersen in the Assurance and Business Advisory Services Group specializing in financial services.

Chandwani earned a master’s degree in business administration from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. She received a bachelor's degree from UCLA in business and economics, with a minor in accounting. She is a Certified Public Accountant.

Jeff Bailey
Director of Client Services

As Director of Client Services, Jeff Bailey oversees the coordination of APLA’s Client Services Division.

Prior to joining APLA, Bailey served as the Director of Health Education & Prevention at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, overseeing a variety of evidence-based HIV health education and risk reduction services targeting men who have sex with men (MSM), transgender women and persons living with HIV, as well as tobacco control and substance use prevention programs.

Recognized for his leadership in community planning, Bailey served as one of the community co-chairs of the Los Angeles County HIV Planning Committee from 2001 to 2005 and presently participates as a member of the Urban Coalition of HIV/AIDS Prevention Services (UCHAPS). Bailey is also a part-time professor at Cal State University Los Angeles in the Health Sciences Department.

Bailey received a masters degree in public health from California State University Northridge and an undergraduate degree in history from the UCLA. He also has a degree in physical education and a secondary teaching credential in social sciences.

George Ayala, Psy.D.
Director of Education

Dr. George Ayala is the Director of Education at AIDS Project Los Angeles, a position he assumed in 2002. Dr. Ayala oversees the development and implementation of nationally coordinated and locally driven prevention, education and evaluation activities at the agency.

He previously served as director of The Institute for Gay Men’s Health, a collaboration between APLA and Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) in New York City. Ayala has nearly 20 years of experience in HIV/AIDS prevention education with a focus on working with youth, people of color and gay communities.

As a nationally recognized prevention expert, Ayala is a resource to several universities and national prevention efforts. In his role at APLA, he worked with the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors to develop policy recommendations for AIDS directors concerned about the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Latino communities within their states or local jurisdictions. Ayala has also served as a consultant to the National Institutes of Health, where he conducted a quality assurance audit of an HIV prevention research project in six countries: China, India, Peru, Russia, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Ayala has worked as a researcher for the University of California Los Angeles’ Center for Community Health and University of California San Francisco’s Center for AIDS Prevention Studies. He is currently the Principal Investigator on a project studying technology transfer processes with Latino community-based organizations and the Co-Principal Investigator of a CDC-funded, three-city epidemiologic study of black and Latino men who have sex with men.

From 1999 to 2000, he served as a Deputy Director at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, Office of AIDS Programs and Policy (OAPP). At OAPP, Ayala managed the overall operations of the office, including administration of program funds totaling over $80 million. Ayala earned his master’s and doctorate degrees in clinical psychology at Rutgers University and undergraduate degree at Cornell University.

Phil Curtis
Director of Government Affairs

Phil Curtis oversees the policy and advocacy activities of APLA’s Government Affairs Division.

Curtis is a longtime employee of AIDS Project Los Angeles. He joined the agency as a case manager in 1989, later worked as APLA's benefits coordinator, managed the agency's first return-to-work program, and joined the Government Affairs Division in 2000.

Previously, Curtis had a long career as a journalist, writing for a variety of newspapers, newsmagazines and wire services. For several years, he worked for PBS flagship station WNET-TV in New York City, where he was an on-air producer/reporter for the station's first nightly newsmagazine, The 51st State. He later served as executive producer of PBS's national weekly media review, Behind the Lines.

Curtis is a graduate of the University of Virginia.

Vallerie D. Wagner
Director of Health and Wellness Programs

Vallerie D. Wagner, M.S. joined APLA in 2007 as the Director of Health and Wellness Programs for the Education Division at AIDS Project Los Angeles. She oversees prevention education and national programs and publications. She is leading the agency’s efforts to establish a sexual health center for African American and Latino gay men in south Los Angeles.

Prior to joining APLA, she served as the Chief Operating Officer at the Black AIDS Institute. Prior to joining the Institute, Ms. Wagner was the Director of Education and Social Services at the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center, where she provided management for the Community Outreach and Education Department, Legal Services Department, Youth Services Department, Health Education and Prevention Department and the California AIDS Clearinghouse.

Before entering the world of nonprofit management, Ms. Wagner worked as an engineer at Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a member of Technical Team for the Voyager and Galileo Projects for 15 years. Ms. Wagner received her B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Southern University in Baton Rouge in 1981. She received her M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Tuskegee Institute in 1983 and was the first woman to receive a master’s degree in engineering from that institution.

Ms. Wagner has been a strong advocate for the human rights of the LGBT community and people living with HIV/AIDS for more than 20 years. She currently serves on the board of directors of the Jordan Rustin Coalition and the National Black Justice Coalition. She is also a member of Amnesty International’s OUTfront National Steering Committee.

Madria Marshall
Director of Human Resources

Madria Marshall joined APLA in 2005 as Director of Human Resources. A seasoned executive with 25 years of experience in the field, she has worked in the health care, transportation, finance and consumer products industries.

For nearly 20 years, Ms. Marshall worked at UHP Healthcare/Watts Health Foundation in Inglewood, most recently as Director, Human Resources / Vice President, Personnel Services, where she managed a $2,000,000 budget and oversaw more than 1,000 employees.

Ms. Marshall has broad experience with union negotiations, recruitment and referral programs, compliance audits and management training. She began her career at Mattel Incorporated in El Segundo.

Ms. Marshall holds a bachelor of science from California State University, Long Beach, and a master’s degree in organizational management from the University of Phoenix. She is a member of the Society of Human Resources Management and Human Resources Executive Networking.

Justin Burke
Director of Communications

Justin Burke was appointed director of communications in January 2007. He oversees the marketing, advertising and media relations of the organization.

He served as communications manager at APLA from 2003 to 2006, and as liaison to the board of directors from 2001 to 2003.

Prior to joining APLA, Burke worked in the entertainment industry, most recently in feature film development in Los Angeles and previously as production manager at Nickelodeon in New York.

Burke is a graduate of Trinity College, Hartford Connecticut.