When art dealer Lori Kaufman arrived at the doorstep of AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) in the late ‘80s, she was in a very painful time of her life.
“I had a wonderful friend who designed my gallery and was an artist at my gallery,” Kaufman recalled. “His name was Jon Cockrell. We had an amazing nine-year friendship until he lost his battle with AIDS on Sept. 11, 1988. He was 35. I struggled to accept that he was gone and then I got a call from Marcia Lipetz, who was AFC’s first full-time executive director. I honestly can’t remember how she got my name, but it was at a time when I knew I needed to surround myself with like-minded people who were compassionate and caring individuals and like me, knew that we needed to mobilize and do more for those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. It was a very scary time for so many.”
This was the start of Kaufman’s journey as a volunteer at AFC. She joined the AFC board in 1989, and from 1993-1996 she was the organization’s board chair. Kaufman also served as the fund development chair, and, in 2024, she transitioned to AFC’s Honorary Board. Kaufman has pledged to stay involved with AFC as a strong ally of the organization and the community.
Kaufman said her expertise on the AFC board was her ability to fundraise, which she honed as a board member in her mid-20s for The Medical Research Institute Council—Michael Reese Hospital (now the Children’s Research Fund at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago).
“When you are passionate about something, the ask is an easy one,” she added. “I have been fundraising ever since. My mother used to say that when people saw me, they crossed the street. I don’t mind if they cross the street, as I know I’ll meet them on the next corner. I guess some would say I’m relentless. So much of asking for money is telling the story. AFC has a remarkable story and I’m so proud of the organization we’ve become.”
Kaufman focused much of her work as AFC’s board chair on raising money that allowed the organization’s programs to expand as the community’s needs grew. She was especially excited, she said, when AFC became an integral part of the state’s Getting to Zero initiative, aimed at virtually eliminating new HIV transmissions in Illinois by the year 2030.
Kaufman said, “It’s the promise I made to my friend to ‘keep fighting the fight’ until we can end the battle.”
AFC has recognized Kaufman’s tireless work with an award named in her honor, the Lori Kaufman Volunteer Award. She received the first award in2010,and it has been bestowed upon four other people at their gala ceremonies, including this year’s upcoming festivities.
“I was honored and very humbled to receive this honor,” said Kaufman.“It was a privilege to be able to share my personal story onstage upon receiving this award.”
The seeds of Kaufman’s journey to HIV/AIDS- and LGBTQ+-advocacy began when she decided to move back to Chicago after she graduated from Purdue University in 1973 with a BA in art history and a minor in sociology. She spent the first two years of her college experience at a community college called Centenary College in Hackettstown, New Jersey.
“At the time it was a two-year all-girls school and one of the better-known Junior colleges on the East Coast,” Kaufman recalled. “I went there because I needed to learn how to learn and how to embrace an education. I was not much of a student in high school.”
During her freshman year, she found inspiration in an African American studies course taught by a professor named Moses Knott.
“It was a turning point for me,” Kaufman said. “I owe Dr. Knott so much for guiding me and teaching me a part of American history that fascinated me. The class was a game changer and taught me so much about inequality in America. … I arrived at Purdue University as a junior. I went from 600 women to 29,000 students. I studied art history as my mother was an art dealer and this degree made the most sense, but I have never once forgotten Dr. Knott and my introduction to fairness for all.”
Kaufman moved from Chicago to Highland Park when she was seven. She spent the rest of her childhood and teen years there, but calls herself a “city kid” at heart. Her desire to live in a diverse community led to her move back to Chicago.
Shortly after her return to Chicago in 1973, Kaufman was reunited in an elevator with her now husband and best friend Steve Kaufman (they married in 1975), whom she met at age 13 in Sunday School in Highland Park. They have one child, a daughter named Sarah, and two grandchildren, 11-year-old Sydney and 9-year-old Cameron. Both attend Francis W. Parker School in Chicago (the fourth generation to do so in Lori’s family—she attended the school before her family moved to Highland Park). Kaufman is now a life trustee of Francis W. Parker School and also continues to serve on the stewardship and advancement committee.
Kaufman’s plan was to apply to the Art Institute of Chicago for her master’s degree but her mother convinced her to work for her in what was then called the Hokin Gallery. Her mother said she would get the “best education and could always go back to school for my master’s degree. I never did, as I never had to. My mother was my greatest teacher. We worked together for nine years. I owe all I learned about the art world and about philanthropy to her and my father.
“When the time was right and my parents moved to Florida on a more full-time basis, I opened Hokin/Kaufman Gallery in what was to become the River North neighborhood where many art galleries eventually relocated. … Because of my time with my mother, I was known in the art world already. I was ‘Grace’s Daughter.’ She gave me the gift of our name, and thus I became one of the youngest members of the Art Dealers Association of America. It gave my gallery instant credibility. I had big shoes to fill in Chicago after she left to run her two galleries in Florida. It was a great and fulfilling challenge.”
Kaufman’s connections in the art world brought her into close contact with the LGBTQ+ community and people living with HIV/AIDS. She immediately embraced them as an ally and calls it “an incredible journey of discovery. The community is deserving of equality for all. I lead with my heart and have gained so many friends along the way—people from all backgrounds whom I might never have met without this journey.
“…As an ally, I want to continue to be a voice. We need more voices who can speak up for those whose voices they try and silence. If the HIV/AIDS epidemic was gone tomorrow, AFC will still be there to provide the programs, advocacy and services that thousands of people need to thrive and lead long productive lives. Now as the chair of the honorary board, our historical voices will be heard, and we will continue to advocate on behalf of those who need us. It’s just that simple.”
AFC President and CEO John Peller said, “AFC is grateful for the steadfast leadership of Lori Kaufman as a board and honorary board member. Starting in the 1980s and still today, she has raised significant funds and awareness in support of the HIV community. AFC would not be the organization it is today without the extraordinary care and leadership of Lori.”
Outside of Kaufman’s advocacy work for AFC, she is also a member of both the Marwen (an after school visual arts program in Chicago) Honorary Board and the University of Chicago Women’s Board. She was previously a trustee of Skowhegan (Maine) School of Painting and Sculpture.
Last year, Kaufman was named one of Crain’s Chicago Business Notable Nonprofit Leaders Honorees which she calls “quite the surprise, and I was deeply honored. I had no idea I was nominated until after the fact. Everyone who was named in Crains has done such impactful work. I hope we can motivate the next generation of leaders to continue make ‘good trouble.’”
Kaufman encourages everyone who is able to attend AFC’s 40th anniversary gala on Saturday, April 5 from 6-11 p.m. at The Geraghty, 2520 S. Hoyne Ave.
