July 25: Nancy Mahon, Philanthropy Advocate

In public health, sometimes the farthest distance is the one that is most important to travel.

b. July 25, 1964

After graduating magna cum laude from Yale University in 1986, Nancy Mahon attended New York University's School of Law, where she served as editor of the Law Review. She developed an interest in criminal law and became a leading criminal justice expert.

After clerking for two federal judges, Mahon worked as the Director of Research, Policy & Planning for the Osbourne Association, an organization that provides services to prisoners and their families. Philanthropist George Soros named her founding director of the Open Society Institute's (OSI) Center on Crime, Communities & Culture.

Mahon later became Executive Director of God's Love We Deliver (GLWD), a New York City-based organization that provides nutrition to individuals living with HIV and other illnesses. Under Mahon's direction, GLWD grew rapidly in both its functions and clientele.

Throughout her post-graduate career, Mahon has influenced policy through her research and writing. In 1996, the American Journal of Public Health published her groundbreaking article entitled, "New York Inmates' HIV Risk Behaviors: The Implications for Prevention Policy and Programs." Numerous academic conferences, including the International Conference on AIDS, have invited her to present research papers. Mahon has been published in the New York Times, and has appeared on media outlets such as NPR, CBS News, ABC's World News Tonight and The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.

Mahon left GLWD in 2006 to join MAC Cosmetics as the company's Vice President and Executive Director of the MAC AIDS Fund. The Fund has donated over $80 million to AIDS related causes. At the MAC AIDS Fund, Mahon initiated a grant for research into preventing AIDS among sex workers in Asia.


Bibliography

"Online NewsHour: America's Most Wanted - November 26, 1999." pbs.org. August 24, 2007

Selected Works

HIV Transmission and Advocacy for Harm Reduction in US Prisons and Jails (1995)

Race, Crime and Neighborhood Safety (2000)