PRESS RELEASES

Abigail Smith Appointed As Chief Financial Officer, AVAC

December 2019 – Bridge Partners is pleased to announce the appointment of Abigail Smith as Chief Financial Officer at AVAC Global Alliance for HIV Prevention.

AVAC is a 24-year-old organization focused on accelerating ethical research toward an implementation of new biomedical prevention options as part of a comprehensive response to HIV. Through education, policy analysis, advocacy and a network of global collaborations, they mobilize and support efforts to deliver proven HIV prevention tools for immediate impact. AVAC’s programs, projects and partnerships operate globally, focusing particularly on countries where HIV prevention research is conducted.

Abigail Smith is joining AVAC as Chief Financial Officer. In this role, she will be responsible for defining AVAC’s objectives, strategy, planning and operations with respect to the use of financial resources. She will oversee and supervise all financial, cash and investment management, as well as financial and donor reporting, accounting, auditing, budgeting, grants and contracts, and procurement functions.

Prior to AVAC, Abigail gained extensive experience in finance and operations in the non-profit sector, most recently as the Deputy CFO at Planned Parenthood Federation of America and prior to that as Senior Director of Finance and Operations at the Spencer Cox Center for Health in New York. From 2007–2009, she was based in West Africa as the Regional Manager for the Clinton Foundation Health Access Initiative, and from 2002–2008, she served as Director of Finance and Administration at Doctors of the World USA (now Healthright International). She has a BA from the University of Illinois, as well as an MA in Art History and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

ABOUT BRIDGE PARTNERS:

• Bridge Partners (www.bridgepartnersllc.com) is a retained executive search firm with unique expertise in attracting and retaining senior, diverse executives and 16 years of experience executing global leadership searches.
• Our firm’s mission is to assist our clients in their efforts to attract the very best leadership team with the most diverse range of experiences and backgrounds, in order to innovate and reflect the customers, communities, and constituents they serve.
• We have both a global for-profit practice (other clients include GE, Foot Locker, Colgate-Palmolive, Disney, Novartis, Starbucks and Choice Hotels) and an international nonprofit practice.
• What our clients have in common is a desire to adapt to a changing global market and diversify their leadership teams to best reflect their employee base, as well as the global communities and constituents they serve. They retain Bridge Partners to leverage our innovative search approach and our track-record of presenting the highest caliber, diverse executives.