BIO

Adrian Shanker (he) is a seasoned policy and non-profit leader with specialized policy expertise in LGBTQI+ health policy, data equity, and access to care strategies. Adrian has worked at the nexus of LGBTQI+ policy and health policy at the federal, state, and municipal levels.

He served in the Senior Executive Service in the Biden-Harris Administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Policy and Senior Advisor on LGBTQI+ Health Equity at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and previously served as a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS.

Prior to his federal service, Adrian served as Commissioner on the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, the state’s civil rights enforcement agency, where he served from 2018-2022 at the appointment of Governor Tom Wolf with unanimous confirmation by the state senate. He also served the Wolf Administration as Commissioner and Health Committee Co-chair on the Pennsylvania Commission on LGBTQI+ Affairs.

The majority of Adrian’s career was in non-profit leadership. He served as executive director of LGBTQI+ community centers in Pennsylvania and California and served as board president of Pennsylvania’s state equality organization during the marriage equality fight. In Pennsylvania, he founded and developed Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center to a $1.6M agency with 24 FTEs, a 13,000 SF mortgage-free facility, and robust programs in community health, original research, positive youth development, fine art galleries, and a community archive. In that role, he created and broadly implemented the biannual Pennsylvania LGBTQ Health Needs Assessment in 2015, 2018, 2020, and 2022. In California, he led a $2.9M Ryan White agency that provided HIV case management, PrEP navigation, and harm reduction services.

Adrian earned a Graduate Certificate in LGBT Health Policy & Practice from The George Washington University and a B.A., cum laude, in Political Science and Religion Studies from Muhlenberg College.