MPact Global Action for Gay Men’s Health and Rights was founded in 2006 as The Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF) by an international group of activists who were concerned about the disproportionate HIV burden being shouldered by gay and bisexual men.
We have since expanded our work to focus on the broader sexual health and human rights needs of all men who have sex with men
Our Team
MPact’s team is a reflection of our commitment to upholding a diverse global perspective on issues concerning the health and human rights of gay and bisexual men. Our staff of experts in the field are dispersed through different regions and our work extends to 62 countries around the globe.
MPact is led by an international Board of Directors and a collegially appointed Steering Committee of globally recognized advocates and HIV professionals representing every major region of the world, the majority of whom are ages 29 and under.
Sean Howell
Sean is an activist turned entrepreneur as co-founder, he services as CEO at the LGBT Foundation, which works to leverage the LGBT Token and the benefits of blockchain technology for the empowerment of the LGBT community. Prior to the LGBT Foundation he served as President of Hornet ; where, he built a 25 million user gay social network and the largest LGBT newsroom in the world publishing daily in 7 languages on five continents. Previously, he was a fellow of the World Affairs Council, trustee, and President of the Young Professional International Network.
He helps many organizations leverage technology to expand their impact; serves on various nonprofit boards and committees: UNAIDS, E-CDC, PFLAG and co-chair at the Center for Public Health and Human Rights at John Hopkins; is a founding member of the UN Global Coalition for HIV Prevention and technical advisor to UNDPs and the World Bank LGBTI Index.
Christian Felix Castro
Proudly identifies as a human rights activist as well as community advocate and mobilizer. He has a long history of training, inspiring, and championing volunteers, students, and community leaders. He received his M.A. in geography at University of Maryland – College Park and a B.A. in geography at University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA), with a scholarly interest in urban and political geography.
As a consultant, his expertise in HIV initiatives propels him to make impactful strides in public health. At the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC), leadership in the groundbreaking Getting to Zero, Illinois project exemplified his commitment to ending the HIV epidemic. With an adeptness in research skills, presentation development, and relationship building, he’s fostered meaningful partnerships across diverse stakeholders to drive change.
Prior to AFC, he served as research project manager at the Institute of Sexual Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing (ISGMH) at Northwestern University. He collaborated on the RADAR project, a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded study that is the largest longitudinal cohort of 1,200 young men who have sex with men (YMSM), transgender women and nonbinary people ever conducted. Previous work experience includes positions at non-profits and government organizations, including Center on Halsted, Latino Commission on AIDS, the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA) and the Chicago Department of Public Health.
From 2023-2024, he served as a commissioner on the Illinois Commission on LGBTQ Aging. In 2022, he was recognized as one of the 100 Latino advocates for POZ 100. This list celebrates both HIV positive and HIV negative—who are doing their part to end the HIV epidemic. The recognition as a White House Champion of Change under the Obama administration underscores his dedication to advocacy and mobilization.
Ethan Arrow
Ethan is a public policy specialist with over 12 years of experience as a financial controller and regulatory compliance specialist within the banking sector. He is currently a vice president at Goldman Sachs where his responsibilities include regulatory and financial policy for the firm. Prior to that he worked for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in its regulatory policy and strategy function. Ethan has a Master’s in International Affairs with a concentration in financial and economic policy from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and received a teaching fellowship from Fulbright. When not at home in Brooklyn Ethan is an avid traveler and enjoys camping, hiking and trekking, especially with his dog Charlie.
Othman Mellouk
An orthodontist by profession, Othoman Mellouk joined the Association de Lutte Contre le Sida (ALCS) in Morocco in 1994, where he participated in the development of the first prevention program targeting men having sex with men in North Africa and the Middle East.
From 2002 to 2010 he was the chair of the Marrakech city branch of ALCS, and was in charge of international relations of ALCS. He is also one of the most active advocates for access to treatment in the MENA region with a particular focus on the question of intellectual property rights and their effect on access to treatment. In January 2010, Othoman Mellouk became co-chair of MPact.
Johanan Rivera
Johanan has over 15 years of experience in international development working on poverty reduction projects in Latin America and South Asia. He is currently the COO of Imago Global Grassroots, a capacity-building organization that works with social enterprises, nonprofits and grassroots organizations to scale-up their impact. The challenges he faced from growing up in the closet in Mexico are at the core of his passion for improving access to resources for the for LGBTQ+ community in developing countries. He is an economist from the Harvard Kennedy School, a member of the LGBTQ Victory Campaign Board and currently lives in Washington DC.
Najeeb Ahmad Fokeerbux
Najeeb Ahmad Fokeerbux is the Founder and President of Young Queer Alliance (YQA) and has over 5 years’ experience working with LGBT youth. Since 2005, he has been passionate and engaged in initiatives that aim to empower young people and previously held positions of responsibility in various organizations such as the Rivière-du-Rempart Youth Centre Advisory Committee, the Youth Action Movement, the Organisation Miss-Roi D’Été, We Help You and Jeunesse Militante. Currently, Najeeb is enrolled as student in master’s in business administration (specialization in Public Administration) at the Open University of Mauritius. He enjoys hiking, badminton, Zumba, playing chess and online games.
Jorge Saavedra
Currently Executive Director of the AHF Global Public Health Institute at the University of Miami and Global Public Health Ambassador for AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), Member of the Board of Trustees of IAPAC and is also a Member of the Strategy Committee of the Global Fund representing the Developing Country NGOs, Member of the Executive Committee GayLatino Network and of the MSMGF Steering Committee. Dr. Saavedra based in Mexico, is a Medical Doctor from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) with two Master’s degrees— one in Public Health and another in Health Policy and Management both from Harvard University. He has been Director General of the National AIDS Program of Mexico (2003-2009), where he was the first openly gay person to achieve a high-level position inside Mexico’s federal government. He has also been Deputy Director General of Planning and Innovation at the Ministry of Health of Mexico (2001-2003). Since Jorge’s times as Head of the National AIDS Program in Mexico, where he arrived through an open merit-based contest, he was in charge of launching the universal access to ART program in 2003, the first time a developing country did it entirely with domestic resources. He has several publications mainly related with AIDS Economics and the latest ones on the global response to Ebola (Lancet Nov 23, 2015 and BMJ May 19, 2016). Dr. Saavedra’s permanent residency is in Mexico.
Don Baxter (Emeritus)
Don Baxter is a founding Co-Chair of the Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF) since its establishment in 2006. He served as the Executive Director of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO), the national federation for the HIV community response in Australia, for the period 2001-2011. During that decade and the years subsequently he has been involved in a range of board director positions with global and Asia Pacific HIV agencies, with a particular focus on MSM in the HIV pandemic.
In addition to the MSMGF (2006 – 2021) these include the board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB & Malaria (2011-14) and its Communities, Rights & Gender Advisory Group (2014-2016) and on-going roles with the board of APCASO (2002 – ), ICASO (2005 – 2017) and AIDS Project Los Angeles (2015 – 2018).
Don’s early HIV involvement was in the initial grass-roots HIV community response in Sydney’s gay community from 1983 – from which he subsequently served in national leadership positions and as a member of key advisory and decision-making bodies in Australia’s national HIV response – in both elected positions and Ministerially-appointed ones.
Careers
Our mission at MPact Global Action for Gay Men’s Health and Rights is to bring global attention to local concerns. We are directly linked to more than 120 community-based organizations in 62 countries who are fighting for the sexual health and human rights of gay and bisexual men around the world.
Annual Reports
Bringing MPact into the new decade means taking innovative approaches to our work. We have never been afraid to break the mold, to speak truth to power, and to spring into action when we see the needs of our community are not being met. This last year, MPact took a stand. We held firm in our commitments to always put community first, to value the voices of our partners above all else, and to build spaces for civil society to convene and connect in spite an ever-shifting landscape.
