White House Author

Cleve Jones, founder of The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. Cleve Jones lives in San Francisco, California and works as a community organizer for UNITE HERE, the international union representing hotel, casino, food service and restaurant workers throughout the United States and Canada. Cleve is a member of the Advisory Board of the American Foundation for Equal Rights and a senior advisor to the Courage Campaign. Cleve's career as an activist began in San Francisco during the turbulent 1970s, when he met pioneer gay rights leader Harvey Milk. Following Milk's election to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Cleve worked as a student intern in Milk's office while studying political science at San Francisco State University. One of the first to recognize the threat of AIDS, Cleve co-founded the San Francisco AIDS Foundation in 1983.