Accordia International Council

Promoting Wider Recognition of Accordia’s Work

The Accordia International Council was established in late 2008 to generate greater appreciation of Accordia—and the important work we are doing in sub-Saharan Africa—among the world’s civic, cultural, and business leaders. The Council consists of distinguished men and women and will include leaders in business and industry, medicine, law, finance, communications, the arts, entertainment, and community affairs. Together and individually they serve as Accordia’s global ambassadors, promoting wider recognition of Accordia’s accomplishments in ‘building Africa’s capacity to fight infectious disease through training, research, care and prevention.'

Gary Bridge

Gary L. Bridge is a Managing Director of Horsley Bridge Partners (HBP), a private equity investment manager headquartered in San Francisco. Before joining HBP in 1985, Mr. Bridge was a partner at Cowen & Company in Boston, where he was a nationally recognized security analyst for more than 10 years. Prior to Cowen, he was a Vice-President with G. S. Grumman & Associates, an investment research firm that was acquired by Cowen and became its institutional research department. Mr. Bridge started his investment career with John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company, where he held various positions including responsibility for investments made in the computer and aerospace industries. Mr. Bridge serves on numerous private equity firm advisory boards around the world, including Asia.

Nicholas Hellmann 

Dr. Nicholas Hellmann serves as Executive Vice President of Medical and Scientific Affairs at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. In this position, he provides strategic direction for programs and research initiatives, ensuring that children are at the forefront of medical and scientific breakthroughs. Prior to assuming his current position, Hellmann was the program leader of the HIV/AIDS Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he was responsible for strategy, research, program, and policies related to HIV/AIDS for the Foundation. He has extensive experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector, having worked with industry leaders like Roche Molecular Systems, ViroLogic, Gilead Sciences, Genentech, and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Dr. Hellmann received his MD degree from the University of Kentucky in 1982, and completed his Internal Medicine Residency and Infectious Diseases Fellowship training at UCSF, where he later became an Assistant Professor in Internal Medicine/Infectious Diseases Division. While on staff at UCSF, Hellmann conducted research in Uganda to identify HIV risk factors and develop effective intervention strategies to reduce heterosexual HIV transmission.

Suzanne Sande Mrlik

Suzanne Mrlik chairs the Council for the San Francisco Bay area, where she is active as a community organizer and fundraiser, primarily in the area of education. Ms. Mrlik is the daughter of Accordia co-Founder, Dr. Merle A. Sande (1939-2007), the visionary who pioneered many of the models Accordia advocates for today. Ms. Mrlik began her professional career as a civil litigator for a major law firm in San Francisco. Over the past ten years, she has transitioned to community volunteer work in education and fundraising. Ms. Mrlik has a BA from Stanford University and a JD from Santa Clara University School of Law.

Robert Norton

Robert W. Norton retired as Senior Vice President for Corporate Human Resources for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Group in 2004, after having been appointed to that position in 2001. He joined Pfizer in 1969, working in the Corporate Personnel Division. He held a number of international and domestic positions in human resources and from 1985 to 1997, served as Pfizer’s senior international human resources executive. Currently, Mr. Norton serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Fisk University and has demonstrated significant leadership in helping to raise funds for this historically black liberal arts college, which was struggling for survival just two years ago. He is the former chairman of the Department of State Overseas Schools Advisory Council.

Steven Phillips, MD

Dr. Steven C. Phillips is the Medical Director, Global Issues and Projects, ExxonMobil Corporation, where his responsibilities include overseeing the Corporation's "outside-the-fenceline" community and public health programs throughout its global operations. In this capacity, he has worked closely with governments, NGO's, U.N. agencies, multilateral, faith-based, and community organizations, and the private sector in fostering "public-private partnerships" as a development platform to address urgent global health priorities. Prior to joining Exxon, Dr. Phillips served in the U.S. Public Health Service and was assigned to the Epidemic Intelligence Service of the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. Dr. Phillips is a member of the American College of Physicians and a Fellow of the American College of Epidemiology. He currently serves on the Boards of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, Malaria NO MORE™, Net Impact, and the World Economic Forum's Global Health Initiative. He is a member of the Harvard School of Public Health's Leadership Council and the advisory panels of Medicines for Malaria Ventures; Episcopal Relief and Development's "NetsforLife" Initiative; the World Bank Malaria Booster Program; and the International Strategic Advisory Group of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, TB, and Malaria. He is also the Private Sector Advisory Board representative to the Global Fund for AIDS, TB, and Malaria.

John Weinold

John Wienold serves as Council chair in Chicago. Mr. Weinold’s professional career spans over 30 years of law, and he has been active within the Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization since 1990 as well as supporting other local charities. John’s professional career spans over 30 years of law within the Chicago area. He has a Juris Doctor Degree from Southern Methodist University. His primary focus is on personal injury litigation. He has tried over a 150 lawsuits to verdict and has had over 25 appellate decisions published. John has been active in truck safety and has represented numerous victims of heavy truck crashes throughout the country, which on many occasions have resulted in lasting positive change within the industry. He has been active with and supported grassroots safety organizations such as Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways, Parents against Tired Truckers and the Coalition for Highway Safety. He has spoken frequently on highway safety and has worked with major experts in the field, both in the United States and in Europe. John has also represented women and their families victimized by breast cancer against the insurance industry when lifesaving benefits were unjustly denied.