Member Spotlight

Mr. Kerry Thomas is a licensed social worker who assumed the role of Planning Council Chair in November 2023 after serving as the Council’s Vice Chair for a year. He is also an active member of the Council’s Clinical Quality Management committee.

Kerry decided to pursue Social Work and specifically HIV advocacy because of the disproportionate impact of HIV on historically marginalized communities, particularly the LGBTQ+ community. He relates to the impact of stigma when navigating health systems and feels strongly about addressing these issues. Kerry strongly believes that healthcare is a human right, and that it is important to understand that we all have an HIV status: positive or negative.

Kerry, Program Manager at Thursday’s Child, oversees the Ryan White Part A programs, Safety Net/AIDS Services Access Program, and HIV testing and outreach services and has 12 years of experience in HIV/AIDS supportive services. Throughout the years, he has collaborated with various partnerships such as NYS AIDS Institute Faith Communities Project and Ending the Epidemic initiatives. He is also the current Chair of the Northwell Health’s LGBTQ+ Transgender Program Client Advisory Board and participates in the planning and facilitating of Health Conference workshops.

In his spare time, Kerry likes to stay active with sports and sometimes coaches Trans Boxing as a USA Boxing Certified Coach specifically working with beginners. He enjoys watching the Tour de France and La Vuelta de Espana cycling races and is an avid Islanders hockey fan. He also enjoys global studies and learning about different cultures and traditions and completes at least one Spanish lesson on Duo Lingo every day.

Kerry states “that by procuring, coordinating, and utilizing available resources, we can see the end of the epidemic in our lifetime, which means getting zero new transmissions, zero-AIDS-related illnesses, and zero stigma.” He firmly believes that we must always remember our Long-Term Survivors pointing out that he enjoys the fun social events with Thursday’s Child Long-Term Survivors program, from whom he learns so much and admires their strength. He continues to feel inspired by their stories and wishes to honor them by helping to end the epidemic.