Anne Aslett has been named No. 1 on INvolve People’s 2026 Advocates Role Model List, recognising her outstanding contribution to LGBTQ+ equality, health and human rights. We are incredibly proud to celebrate this award. Her inclusion for several consecutive years reflects both her unwavering advocacy and the impact of the work she champions every day.

For communities facing discrimination, shrinking funding and barriers to healthcare, strong advocacy can change lives. That commitment is at the heart of Anne Aslett’s leadership, and why we are so proud to celebrate her latest recognition.

For Anne Aslett, her commitment to ending AIDS began with a loss. After losing her brother to AIDS in 1997, Anne transformed profound personal loss into a powerful commitment to ensuring everyone can access compassionate, dignified care. Today, as CEO of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, that commitment guides everything she does.

More than four decades into the HIV epidemic, discrimination persists, access to healthcare remains unequal, and unprecedented pressure on global HIV funding threatens hard-won progress. But Anne’s work is driven by the belief that the story isn’t finished, and together, we can shape what comes next.

Anne Aslett at the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s 32nd Annual Academy Awards Viewing Party

We have the tools and the knowledge. But their promise depends on access, and our collective will to make that access a reality.

Anne Aslett, CEO

In 2024 and 2025, 24 new LGBTQ+-focused grants helped partners deliver care in countries with some of the harshest anti-LGBTQ+ laws. These grants expanded the Foundation’s support for LGBTQ+ communities under Anne’s leadership, helping partners reach people where stigma and discrimination too often stand in the way of care.

Through this work:

  • Almost 90,000 LGBTQ+ people were tested for HIV.
  • Nearly 25,000 people were enrolled on PrEP.
  • More than 2,200 healthcare workers and peer educators were trained to deliver LGBTQ+-friendly services.

When this pressure threatened frontline services, Anne helped pioneer the Rocket Response Fund in 2025 to protect essential support for communities at risk of being left behind.

Anne began her journey with the Foundation as a volunteer. More than two decades later, in July 2026, she was awarded an OBE for her services to ending AIDS. Her work is rooted in personal loss but defined by the possibility of a better future.

The story of ending AIDS is still unfinished. Anne’s leadership is helping shape what comes next – and ensuring that the ending is one of equality, dignity and health for all.