In Memorium, Ronald González

Many lives were lost in the crash of Continental flight 3407; one man, in particular, has come to our attention as an upstanding Buffalo citizen who did his best to help the Latino community and those with HIV.

Ronald González (1-12-64 to 2-12-09), a native of New York City, relocated to Buffalo in 1999 where he earned his undergraduate degree while working at AIDS Community Services of Western New York, Inc. He served three terms as the Vice President of the Ryan White Care Network of Western New York, Inc. and Co-Chair of the Minority Concerns Committee. Additionally he served on the Board of Directors of the Men of Color Health Awareness Project.

In 2003, Ron was a Technical Assistance Specialist with the HIV Prevention Network of the Health and Safety Programs at Rural Opportunities, Inc., in Rochester.  In this role, he traveled extensively, providing prevention programming assistance to organizations serving migrant and seasonal farm workers and Latino communities.

Ron was the first Executive Director of Alianza Latina, Inc. a community-based organization addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Buffalo's urban communities.  In 2006, Ron was awarded a grant by the National Urban Fellows Program and returned to New York City to complete his graduate studies in Public Administration during which he completed an internship with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Ron was most recently the Director of School-Based Youth Services at New Brunswick Tomorrow, Inc. in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Ron was a member of the New York State HIV Prevention Planning Group where he served as chairperson of the Racial/Ethnic Committee and was elected Community Co-Chairperson in 2007 and reelected in 2008. Ron's passion and commitment can be expressed in his own words:

"My vision is to help recruit and grow the next generation of leaders for the development and advancement of healthy urban communities throughout the State of New York."