19TH ANNUAL KILE OZIER FOUNDER'S AWARD

In honor of the founder of Academy of Friends, the Kile Ozier Founder’s Award is presented annually to pay tribute to those who exemplify the spirit of volunteerism in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Each year, the winner is asked to designate a Bay Area HIV/AIDS service agency to receive a $5,000 Academy of Friends grant.

The Board of Directors of Academy of Friends is pleased to present the 2008 Kile Ozier Founder’s Award to Neil Figurelli.

Neil Figurelli has been an activist since the 1960’s, from protesting against the Vietnam War to fighting for Gay Liberation.

Neil has been involved in the fight against AIDS/HIV since the 1980’s, when he was living in Santa Cruz. He traveled regularly to San Francisco to volunteer for AIDS Emergency Fund events and has been a leader of AEF’s Christmas Eve Dinner since its founding 20 years ago. For the last ten years he has chaired the event, which provides a festive holiday dinner for 1200 people with AIDS/HIV, their families and friends.

Neil currently serves as Vice President of the Board of Directors of AIDS Emergency Fund and Breast Cancer Emergency Fund, and is the founder and creator of This Old Bag “The Power of the Purse,” BCEF’s incredibly successful annual celebrity and designer handbag auction. In October, 2007 he received the 2007 This Old Bag Founder’s Award for his contributions to BCEF.

Neil is senior event coordinator at Winslow & Associates, Inc. where he has worked for 14 years producing fundraisers and events for many non-profit organizations, including The Academy of Friends Gala. In addition to his work-related event planning, Neil has worked on the AIDS Health Project Gala Committee since 1990’s and has raised funds for AIDS Walk since its inception, among many other volunteer commitments throughout the community. He has a long history of harassing his friends and family for their financial support and volunteer time for the causes he works with.

Neil lives in San Francisco with his partner of twenty six years Rodney and their two cats Dottie and Charlie.

Neil’s older brother, Frankie, lost his battle with AIDS in New York City early in the pandemic. In memory of his brother and so many other friends he has lost to AIDS, Neil has designated AIDS Emergency Fund as the beneficiary of his award honorarium.

About AIDS Emergency Fund
AIDS Emergency Fund was one of the nation’s earliest responders to AIDS. In the summer of 1982, AEF began providing emergency financial assistance to people who had been fired and evicted by panicked employers and landlords because they showed symptoms of a mysterious and deadly illness.

Since then, AIDS Emergency Fund (AEF) has provided nearly $25,000,000 in emergency financial assistance to people facing the challenges of living with debilitating HIV and AIDS. Each year approximately 2,500 low-income San Franciscans get help from AEF – enabling them to maintain housing and utility services, make medical co-payments, and meet other critical expenses while they are too sick to work. And, AEF works closely with more than 40 other AIDS service agencies in San Francisco to assure that its emergency assistance is coupled with referrals to other organizations that provide meals, counseling, subsidized housing and other longer-term assistance.