The National AIDS Memorial relies solely on funding from individual donors, foundations, and corporate partners to support its mission and programs. We are proud of our strong and multifaceted partnerships and welcome new connections. Here are profiles highlighting some of our partners and the work they do in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
For information about how to support the National AIDS Memorial, please contact Oscar Fabian at ofabian@aidsmemorial.org.
Gilead is a pivotal and long-standing partner of the National AIDS Memorial. Gilead’s leadership cannot be understated. Their $2.4 million grant laid the groundwork for the AIDS Memorial Quilt to move back to the San Francisco Bay Area under the care and stewardship of the National AIDS Memorial.
The grant was the largest ever received by the National AIDS Memorial. It was crucial in moving the 50,000 panels of the Quilt to its permanent home, ensuring that the iconic treasure can tell the story of the AIDS crisis and activist movement to future generations. The grant also provides essential resources to support Quilt programs, including new educational efforts, displays, Quilt panel making and repair, plus conservation to help reach communities and populations adversely impacted by HIV/AIDS through the powerful and meaningful symbolism of the AIDS Memorial Quilt.
Gilead’s support for the National AIDS Memorial doesn’t end there. The company is the presenting sponsor and funder of the Pedro Zamora Young Leaders Scholarship, which provides financial support to young people who carry the torch of Pedro’s legacy into the future.
“Gilead has had a tremendous impact as a scientific leader in the development of therapeutic treatments for HIV/AIDS and, through its philanthropic efforts, has made a difference for causes and in communities impacted by the disease. It has provided important resources in support of the Quilt moving to San Francisco, its programs and new educational efforts to reach communities that are disproportionately impacted by HIV.”
— John Cunningham, Executive Director of the National AIDS Memorial
“Gilead is honored to support the Quilt, which is a national treasure and a poignant tribute to those who
lost their lives to HIV/AIDS. We are proud to be a long-standing partner to the National AIDS Memorial,
supporting its work to educate and inspire a new generation of advocates in the fight to end the
epidemic.”
— Daniel O’Day, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Gilead Sciences
Surviving Voices, the National AIDS Memorial’s multi-year AIDS oral history project, ensures that stories and lessons from communities impacted by the crises are captured, curated and retained for future generations.
As the presenting sponsor of the program, Chevron’s leadership ensures that these important stories continue to inspire acts of resilience, hope, activism and healing. Although steeped in tragedy and prejudice, the story of HIV/AIDS is rich in relentless determination and powerful in its success; a story with abundant lessons for current and future generations, as our nation confronts ongoing social justice challenges.
For years, Team Chevron employees have volunteered countless hours to maintain the National AIDS Memorial Grove, supported World AIDS Day events and inspired many through their Quilt-making programs that honor people who have died of AIDS.
Chevron is a long-standing partner of the National AIDS Memorial, stepping up in so many ways to support our work, help us share stories, and ensure that the lessons of the AIDS crisis are forever captured in our hearts.
In 2020, Vivent Health announced a long-term partnership with the National AIDS Memorial as the Premier National Community Partner of the AIDS Memorial Quilt to support Quilt programs and educational activities, including displays of the Quilt in communities across the United States.
Vivent Health began the partnership by displaying ten sections of the Quilt, consisting of 80 individual panels, at Vivent Health offices in six cities in Colorado, Missouri, Texas and Wisconsin. The Quilt sections on display include panels that represent each geographic area, providing important HIV and AIDS resources for employees and the public
“The Quilt remains one of the most poignant reminders of the breadth and scope of the HIV epidemic. We are honored to join forces and expand education and awareness about the HIV/AIDS epidemic in pursuit of our vision of a world without AIDS.”
— Michael J. Gifford, President and Chief Executive Officer for Vivent Health
Quest Diagnostics is an important partner of the National AIDS Memorial, providing leadership around annual World AIDS Day observances, and as a lead supporter of the memorial’s Community Volunteer Workday program.
The sacred ground of the 10-acre, living National AIDS Memorial Grove honors all who have confronted the tragic HIV and AIDS crisis: those who have died and those who have shared their struggle, kept the vigils, and supported each other during their final hours.
Throughout the year, team members volunteer in the Grove. Thanks to their support, the Grove sports new equipment, plants, trees and shrubberies, with additional funding supporting maintenance and hardscape improvements.
“The community volunteer workdays are at the heart of our mission in keeping our 10-acre memorial Grove a beautiful space for healing and remembrance,” said National AIDS Memorial executive director John Cunningham.
Since 1991, nearly 40,000 volunteers have participated in more than 300 Community Volunteer Workdays, donating more than 200,000 volunteer hours and planting more than 10,000 trees, plants and shrubs.
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In 2019, the NAMES Project Foundation and the National AIDS Memorial agreed to jointly gift care of the AIDS Memorial Quilt’s archival collections to the prestigious American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, making this collection available through the world’s largest public library.
This archival collection currently totals more than 200,000 items. It includes biographical records, correspondence, photographs, tributes, epitaphs, news clippings and artifacts submitted by panel makers that add context about the lives memorialized on the Quilt panels. The archive also documents the creation, marketing and exhibition of the Quilt over the past 32 years. Digital assets include images of all the Quilt blocks and detailed information about the creators of quilt panels.
The American Folklife Center preserves archival records, which are available to researchers and the public after archivists process and organize the materials.
The National AIDS Memorial and Library of Congress worked together to digitize the archival collections so they can be connected to the Quilt panels. Learn more about accessing the Library of Congress archival records.
“The Library of Congress is proud to serve as the home of the National AIDS Memorial Quilt Archive to preserve its legacy and give the memorial a home on both the East Coast and West Coast... The Quilt and its archive – including letters, photographs and personal mementos – help to humanize and demonstrate the scale of the AIDS pandemic in a powerful way while honoring the lives lost.”
— Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress
The City of San Francisco was an early supporter and advocate for the National AIDS Memorial, approving a plan in 1991 to restore a dilapidated and unusable part of Golden Gate Park - the de Laveaga Dell – to create and maintain the 10-acre memorial in the Grove. Guided by the Recreation and Park Department, a team of prominent architects, landscape architects, and designers, along with a committee of volunteers, dedicated countless hours to create a landscape plan that would be fitting as a timeless living memorial. That work led to the groundbreaking and first Community Volunteer Workday for the AIDS Memorial in 1991.
That time represented some of the darkest days of the HIV and AIDS crisis, with nobody knowing what the future held for HIV and AIDS or how many more would die from the disease. That devastated community came together to create the AIDS Grove, first as a place where all lives touched by HIV and AIDS could gather in solidarity in the midst of widespread prejudice and stigma. What began as a comforting garden setting for compassion and remembrance evolved into an important national memorial dedicated to all those lost, as well as to keeping the history of the epidemic alive.
That dedication, commitment and support set in motion legislation spearheaded by U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996 making the Grove this nation's sole federally-designated National AIDS Memorial.
Our work helps ensure that the lives of people who died from AIDS are not forgotten and the story of AIDS is known by future generations - so that never again will a community be harmed because of fear, silence, discrimination, or stigma.