The local sexual-minority community is enriched, strengthened, protected and affirmed by the city’s various nonprofit organizations that serve it.

But who keeps these organizations running?

Profiled here is a group of well-educated professionals with venerated leadership skills. Together they develop programming, acquire funding and help to provide the glue that unifies the community.

Gloria Casarez
The Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative, 1233 Locust St., third floor; (215) 985-3382; www.galaei.org

GALAEI mission: To create awareness of issues affecting the city’s Latino GLBT communities through education, representation and advocacy.

South Philadelphia native Casarez hones in on the needs of a commonly overlooked community.

She received her degree in political science and criminal justice from West Chester University and quickly began working for public-service organizations.

“I had a number of jobs doing community organizing for anti-poverty groups and I’ve worked for the International League for Peace and Freedom as a media director,” she said.

Casarez was also the program director for Penn’s LGBT center.

She started at GALAEI in 1997 and became executive director in ’99.

“I first came here to run the youth program and I did a lot of work with the executive director at the time. I really respected him and enjoyed the work. I appreciated that GALAEI was a place where several important areas of focus — anti-poverty, race issues and GLBT issues — all came together.”

Casarez said she feels her work is tremendously important.

“We’re doing great things in terms of programming. My staff comes up with these great ideas and it’s my job to go out and find the money to make it happen. It’s about being creative and understanding the community’s needs. It’s very appealing to me,” she said.

“We’ve worked on significant campaigns and we have one of the largest trans-health programs in the city that focuses on both trans men and women.”

Like other executive directors of nonprofits, Casarez also struggles with funding.

“We exist in a cultural and political context that constantly shifts,” she explained, “so we have shifting priorities with HIV funding. Now we’re dealing with a dwindling understanding that people in Philadelphia are still being infected with HIV, especially low-income people of color. Our challenge is to keep attention on this issue and keep people engaged and aware of their resources.”

The 35-year-old lives in South Philly with her partner of six years, Trisha, and their portly cat.

When she’s not at the office, Casarez enjoys photography and spending time with friends.

Rhonda Goldfein
AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, 1211 Chestnut St., Suite 600; (215) 587-9377; www.aidslawpa.org

AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania mission: To provide free legal aid to those living with HIV/AIDS and to educate the public about AIDS-related legal issues to achieve fair laws and policies.

Former Miami Beach, Fla., resident Goldfein has been defending the rights of those affected by HIV/AIDS for 15 years.

After earning her bachelor’s degree from the University of Miami and her law degree from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, she began working for an insurance-defense firm.

“I was representing doctors in malpractice cases, and I always thought that job was giving me a lot of karma to work through,” she said. “I really hated the work and I ended up quitting with no other job in mind.”

Goldfein said a series of events persuaded her to work in the HIV/AIDS field.

“Right around the time I quit, a woman that I knew from school tested positive for HIV right after giving birth. And about a week later, a neighbor in Fort Lauderdale was tested for HIV without his knowledge and was positive. I was sitting at home thinking about how traumatic these two events were and wondering what I was going to do with my career.”

She then saw an AIDS Law Project ad in the Bar Reporter seeking volunteer attorneys.

“It was like someone was knocking on my door,” Goldfein said. “It was a very clear sign, and I went from being a paid lawyer to a volunteer lawyer.”

She became executive director in 2003.

“I’ve done just about every job here except for receptionist — which I think is one of the most difficult positions.”

Goldfein said she’s enjoyed both the big and small victories during her time at AIDS Law.

“We’ve sued the Philadelphia Fire Department twice to make sure their emergency-medical personnel treats those with HIV properly and understands infection control — that was a huge victory. We’ve also made lots of small contributions, like making sure a young man in custody receives his medication. It’s different every day,” she said. “We’re trying to make real advances in this field to help folks who are vulnerable with an illness and with heartache after bad things happen to them.”

Goldfein, 48, lives in Center City with her husband of 15 years, David, their ill-behaved dog Johnson and their cat Tumen.

“I like to try to make things bloom in the garden,” she said. “And I aspire to become a good vegetarian cook.”

Jane Shull
Philadelphia FIGHT, 1233 Locust St.; (215) 985-4448; www.fight.org

Philadelphia FIGHT mission: To provide state-of-the-art HIV primary care, consumer education, advocacy, social services and outreach to those living with HIV/AIDS and to end the AIDS epidemic during the lifetime of those living with the virus.

Philadelphia native Shull has been fighting the AIDS epidemic since the early ’90s.

Shull earned her degree in social work from Brandeis University in Massachusetts, then began volunteering at a Philadelphia AIDS practice that focused on clinical research seeking new drugs.

“I felt I needed to be involved in this practice from the beginning and be committed to getting everyone access to these drugs — not just people with money and resources,” she said. “Someone needed to ensure that everyone could participate in clinical trials and that’s why I volunteered.”

Shull said she’s proudest of developing Philadelphia FIGHT’s Project TEACH (Treatment Education Activists Combating HIV).

The program trains those living with HIV/AIDS to be peer educators and advocates for others affected by the epidemic.

“TEACH has really been a life-transforming program,” she said.

Shull also takes pride in the development of the Jonathan Lax Center, a health clinic for people living with HIV/AIDS.

“Lax has served so many people, particularly people who otherwise would not have had access to medical care. These are people with no insurance at all or who are on Medicaid,” Shull said. “We’ve really helped to set some standards in the community and helped to make care available to anyone who walks in our doors. There’s no question we’ve saved lives.”

She said her work at FIGHT is both difficult and rewarding.

“There aren’t many jobs you can have where people come up to you and thank you on the street. You make and lose a lot of friends in this field,” she said, referring to those who have died from AIDS. “This epidemic is far from over and we have a long list of people who are no longer with us, even though treatment has come a long way.”

Shull, 59, lives in Mount Airy with her husband of 37 years, Ed.

Their daughter, Ruth, is 29.

In her free time, Shull likes to spend time with friends, hang out at the pool and read.

Ron Sy
AIDS Services in Asian Communities, 1201 Chestnut St., Suite 501; (215) 563-2424; www.asiac.org

ASIAC mission: To provide culturally sensitive HIV/AIDS-related services to Asians and Pacific Islanders as well as their partners, friends, family and service providers.

Born in the Philippines and raised in Los Angeles, Sy graduated from the University of the East, a renowned Philippine school, with a degree in business administration.

Before coming to ASIAC, he was the program director for the Asian American AIDS Foundation in Chicago.

When ASIAC conducted a national search for a new program director in 1996, Sy said he jumped at the opportunity.

After two years as program director, he became executive director.

Now, with 11 years of ASIAC experience, Sy said he’s most proud of helping the organization expand in staffing and programming.

“When I first started here, we had two staffers,” he said. “Now we’re up to eight, which allows us to do much more.”

Sy said his biggest challenge as executive director is attaining funding.

“It’s always difficult to find new ways to raise money for programs,” he said. “It’s the same frustration that lots of other people in this position share, especially in the current political atmosphere.”

Sy, 46, lives in South Philadelphia.

He enjoys cooking for friends, watching movies and traveling.

“I like spending time in Los Angeles and Chicago, where I have lots of friends and family,” he said.

Sy also likes spending time with his temperamental dog, Miko.

“He’s probably the most neurotic dog in the world,” he said. “My friends aren’t too fond of him — he’s usually pretty cranky.”

Casey Bell can be reached at casey@epgn.com.