Chris Collins, MPP

Chris Collins is President and CEO of Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, where he leads U.S. engagement on the Global Fund’s lifesaving work and advocates for sustained global health investment. Under his leadership, Friends helped secure landmark global health financing wins, including increased U.S. support for the Global Fund in 2019 and $3.5 billion in emergency COVID-19 funding in 2021—the largest single U.S. appropriation to the organization. Previously, Collins served as Chief of the Community Mobilization Division at UNAIDS and as Vice President and Director of Public Policy at amfAR. He co-founded and directed AVAC, advancing HIV prevention and research advocacy worldwide, and served as appropriations staff to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Collins was born in California, grew up in Marin County, went to college at the University of California, Santa Cruz and the University of California, Berkeley. He also lived in San Francisco, working at the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies at UC San Francisco for several years. He obtained his master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He now resides in West Sonoma, traveling frequently to Washington, DC.