Our People

Executive Director

The Sero Project grew out of the anti-criminalization advocacy work of Sean Strub, who serves as its executive director.  Strub is a writer and long-time activist who has been living with HIV for more than 30 years.  He founded POZ Magazine, served on the board of the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+) and is the author of Body Counts: A Memoir of Politics, Sex, AIDS, and Survival (Scribner 2014).  He has been engaged in HIV-related stigma, discrimination, criminalization and empowerment issues since the earliest days of the epidemic.

Co-Managing Director

Tami Haught, Sero’s Co-Managing Director, was diagnosed in 1993 and lived with HIV in silence for 6 years, before embracing advocacy and HIV education.  She is the President of PITCH (Positive Iowans Taking Charge) and as CHAIN (Community HIV/Hepatitis Advocates of Iowa Network) Community Organizer, from 2012 to 2014, managed the successful campaign to reform Iowa’s HIV criminalization statement. Tami is also a steering committee member of the US PLHIV Caucus, a member of the Positive Women’s Network -USA and was inducted into the 2020 Leading Women’s Society in 2015.

Contact Info: tami.haught@seroproject.com

Development Director

Prior to working with the Sero Project, as Project Coordinator, Cindy worked for 14 years as Educational Outreach Coordinator, Empowerment and Child Advocate, and Legal and Medical Advocate for a crisis center working addressing domestic violence and sexual abuse. She sits on the board of the Upper Delaware GLBT Center, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission Advisory Board and the Pike County, PA, Children and Youth Advisory Board. She also worked as a financial analyst for 23 years in New York City.

Contact Info: cindy.stine@seroproject.com

Finance Director

Sexual Justice Coordinator

Sero Micro-Grant Program Assistant

Deirdre Johnson is the Co-founder of Ending Criminalization of HIV and Over-incarceration in Virginia (ECHO VA), a vast network of multiracial and gender inclusive Virginians led by people living with HIV and their allies, fighting for freedom from stigma and injustice for all. She also serves as the State Lead for Positive Women’s Network, USA and is a graduate of their 2019 Policy Fellowship, a member of SisterLove, Inc. 2020 Leading Women’s Society, a U=U Ambassador. Deirdre also hosts a nightly Facebook show as Deirdre Speaks on medical and medicine adherence along with other topics relevant to people living with HIV.

Deirdre will oversee reporting requirements, tracking deliverables and evaluating progress for our micro-grant programs. She will also assess technical assistance needs for grantees and coordinate trainings.

Board Chairperson

Cecilia Chung, Senior Strategist of Transgender Law Center, is the Co-Chair of the Amsterdam-based Global Network of People Living with HIV, a member of the Global Reference Group of Positive Women. She is an internationally recognized leader who advocates for HIV/AIDS awareness and access to care, LGBT equality, and human rights. Cecilia has been a vocal advocate for transgender women and people living with HIV.

In 2002, she joined the Board of the Asian Pacific Islander Wellness Center and currently consults with them on an innovative mobile HIV testing project for transgender youth. In 2004, as a founding producer of Trans March, she helped organize one of the world’s largest annual transgender events which has since been replicated in cities across the U.S. In 2005, she became the first Deputy Director of the Transgender Law Center and is widely credited with shaping the organization’s mission and programs. In 2013, Cecilia was appointed to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. In 2015, Cecilia launched Positively Trans, a national, constituents-led project that focus on policy advocacy and leadership development of transgender people living with HIV, especially transgender women of color.

Board Treasurer

Board Member

Xavier has been involved in the HIV epidemic since he helped his partner, Sean Strub, found POZ Magazine in 1994. Several years later, he and journalist Gonzalo Aburto founded POZ en Espanol, with Xavier serving as Associate Publisher. Xavier also served on the board of directors of Homovisiones, the first Spanish-language public access cable television showed geared to Spanish-speaking LGBT people and their families. Filmed in Manhattan, Homovisiones was broadcast in markets across the U.S. and Caribbean.

Board President