Masen Davis Named Next Executive Director of Funders Concerned About AIDS

Washington, D.C., May 24, 2022 – The Board of Directors of Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA) has named Masen Davis as its next Executive Director, effective October 10, 2022. He succeeds John Barnes, who is retiring at the end of May after leading FCAA for nearly 14 years. 

Masen was selected for the position following an extensive global search, led by a committee of FCAA board members.

“We are at a critical phase in the philanthropic response to HIV and knew we needed an Executive Director that is committed to addressing the systemic injustices that have long fueled the epidemic,” said Channing Wickham, FCAA Board Chair and Executive Director of the Washington AIDS Partnership. “In Masen, we found a visionary and inclusive leader with the deep grassroots, advocacy, and philanthropic experience needed to forge alliances, build community, and grow resources to support FCAA’s vision and mission.”

Masen is a seasoned social justice leader and nonprofit executive who has spent more than 20 years advancing human rights and healthcare for vulnerable populations. He currently serves as Interim Executive Director at Transgender Europe (TGEU), a membership-based network and a voice for the trans community, representing 183 organizations across 47 countries in Europe and Central Asia.

His previous work includes serving as CEO of Freedom for All Americans, a bipartisan campaign to secure full nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people in the United States; Executive Director of the Transgender Law Center, which grew to become the largest trans NGO under his leadership; and interim Executive Director of Global Action for Trans Equality, where he helped launch the International Trans Fund. He has also worked within philanthropy, including serving as Senior Director of Special Projects at the Gill Foundation and Community Investment Officer at United Way of Greater Los Angeles.

“The HIV epidemic is far from over and won’t stop until we increase equitable access to healthcare, human rights, and social justice for vulnerable populations worldwide,” Davis said. “I’m honored to join FCAA and eager to work with our staff, board, and members to inform and mobilize an intersectional philanthropic response to end AIDS.” 

In his new role, Masen will lead a global network comprised of roughly 50 funding organizations located in seven countries. FCAA’s member-supporting organizations represented 57% of total HIV-related grantmaking in 2020. 

“Under the strong and compassionate leadership of John Barnes, FCAA evolved from a neutral information source to the leading voice on philanthropic resources allocated to fight the global HIV epidemic,” said Wickham. “We are truly moving from strength to strength and are excited for where Masen’s leadership will take FCAA next.”

Masen, who will be based in Berlin, Germany, will officially begin in October, but will join members of the FCAA staff and board and the global HIV community at the International AIDS Conference in Montreal in July.

From June through October, current FCAA Director of Operations Sarah Hamilton will step into the role of Interim Executive Director. Sarah joined FCAA in 2008, and over the past decade, has helped to devise and implement significant initiatives related to communications, research, peer collaboration, and convenings.

Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA) is a philanthropy-serving organization (PSO) founded in 1987 to take bold actions and push philanthropy to respond to HIV. FCAA informs, connects, and supports philanthropy to mobilize resources to end the global HIV pandemic and build the social, political and economic commitments necessary to attain health, human rights, and justice for all.