Jasan Maurice Ward

Jasán Maurice Ward, 49, formerly of Cohoes, was born on January 15, 1972 in Albany, New York to the late Lawrence J. Ward, Sr. and Mikki Lisby Ward-Harper.  He joined his older brother, Larry, in heaven on March 19, 2021.

Jasán shared his birthday with Martin Luther King which carried a personal significance for him.  He believed that it was important that he lived a meaningful life in honor of this man he so revered.  His life was purpose driven and he possessed a passion for art, music, dance, fashion, and the written word; and working on behalf of others. He strongly believed “to whom much is given, much will be required (Luke 12:48).”

Jasán grew up in East Greenbush where he attended elementary and junior high school.  His high school years were spent at the Albany Academy for Boys where he excelled academically and started developing leadership skills that would serve him in his professional life.  He was a “Tri-Captain” as he was captain of the Band, Swim team and Track Team.  Aside from winning National Latin and French awards – at graduation, he received the U.S.S. Cruiser Award – the highest award given to the student who most exemplifies what an Albany Academy cadet should be.  He went on to Cornell University but in his senior year had a major life crisis and injury that curtailed his studies.

Despite having not completed his college degree he began his professional work in 2001 as a Case Manager at the AIDS Council of NY.  Working in collaboration with his clients he was able to help them to successfully access community resources to obtain support for mental health, substance abuse, and medical services, as well as employment and housing services. It was here that he first began what would be a life-long calling of providing support to the underserved and especially the LGBT, people of color and people living with HIV/AIDS. His case management skills were further developed from 2003-2006 while employed at the ClearView- Homeless & Traveler’s Aid Society.  Although these populations were different – mentally ill and homeless – his essential job function to assist individuals to successfully navigate their lives remained the same. 

From December 2006 – May 2007, he took a brief hiatus from Human Service work and spent time living with friends in Montreal.  While there he applied for and was accepted in the ILSC-Montreal, University of Cambridge CELTA Program, an intensive six-week course designed to produce Certified English as a Second Language Teachers for Adults. He gained a comprehensive understanding of English language theory and improved his writing and research skills. Being fluent in French he was certified to teach adult students English in either English or French.  However, upon returning to the Albany area he found no paid positions for ESL teachers, only volunteer opportunities.  Luckily, this circumstance led him to a career path that marked the beginning of the work he was meant for.

In May of 2007 he found work at In Our Own Voices, a nonprofit dedicated to creating positive changes by promoting the health and wellness of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people of color. He gained experience in program development, grant writing, creating, and delivering educational and training programs, fund-raising, and coordinating major community events and conferences.  He held several positions within the organization starting as the Youth Development Specialist and he was the Director of LGBT Health Services when he left in 2012. 

In November 2012 Jasán started working in New York City at the MOCHA Center where his position was the Capacity Building Manager for the Taskforce on Black Gay Health.  While serving in this position he forged community collaborations and developed avenues to increase the efficacy of HIV education, outreach and prevention targeting people of color.  When the funding for the position in New York City ran out the MOCHA Center transferred him to their Rochester, NY office.  He served as the Manager of Prevention Programs and ultimately as the Senior Director of Programs & Evaluation.  He provided training, workshops and developed major conferences for a broad range of Health & Human Service Providers to help increase their cultural awareness and sensitivity enabling them to provide more effective services to the target populations.

In 2012, he was named an “Emerging Black LGBT Leader” and was invited to a policy briefing addressing HIV and other issues affecting the LGBT people of color communities at the White House.  He was invited back to the White House in 2013 and 2014 to meet with Senior White House staff concerning the National HIV/AIDS Strategy.  He also became a spokesmodel for the HIV STOPS WITH ME campaign in 2014.  He also served on Community Advisory Boards related to HIV & Cancer, HIV Vaccine Trials and was a trainer for the National Coalition Building Institute and the Trevor Project.  

From 2015 to the beginning of 2018, Jasán stepped away from his human service work and was privileged and honored to work as the Communications and Development Associate for the Garth Fagan Dance Company in Rochester, NY.  He was there for their 45^th Anniversary Season 2015-2017.

He returned to the Albany, NY area in early 2018 to fulfill his goal of working for the New York State Department of Health, AIDS Institute and ironically to be of more hands-on support to his mother and stepfather. He received his B.S. in Community and Human Service from Empire State College.

He began at the AIDS Institute as a Health Program Administrator/Contract Manager in the Bureau of HIV Ambulatory Care Services, managing various contracts/programs in several parts of the state.   He was promoted the next year to the position of Program Coordinator for the Office of Planning and Community Affairs in the Executive Office. During his last months at work Jasán coordinated the programming for the first ever “Virtual World AIDS Day and Ending the Epidemic Conference.”

He was featured in an article in Plus Magazine - 25 Amazing People Living with HIV #11 Of Our Amazing People Living with HIV: Jasán Ward (hivplusmag.com) and Charisse Williams, who became friends with Jasán while they were at Cornell, has a book coming out this month entitled The Joy of Thriving While Black.  His story is featured in the chapter on “Joy.”

He began writing poetry in 2015 and his book of poems – Words in Bloom, will be released in  May or June of this year.

Jasán Maurice Ward - leader, advocate, trainer, mentor, public speaker, poet, dancer, flutest, son, brother, uncle, nephew, cousin, god-child, god-father, and good friend will always be missed.

He is survived by his devoted mother, Mikki Lisby Ward-Harper and step-father, Edward W. Harper of East Greenbush; his brothers Jair Harper of South Glens Falls and Michael Harper of Atlanta, GA; his sister Alisa Harper of East Greenbush; his step-sister Briana Harper Davis (Bruce) of Columbia, SC; his devoted aunt Michele Lisby-Smith (Malcolm) of St. Albans, Queens; his nephews Chase and Michael Harper; his nieces Azaria Fair and Ameliana Harper Walters; his sister-in-law Brenda Maier Ward; his god-mother Beth Turner of Tallahassee, FL and many cousins and friends.  He is also survived by best friends David Callahan, David Reynolds, Michael Clifford, John Coyne, Philly Phil and the Rochester 4 – Christopher, Adrian, Luis & Speedy.  

He was pre-deceased by his father Lawrence J. Ward, Sr. of Niskayuna; his brother Lawrence (Larry) J. Ward, Jr. of Latham; his paternal grandparents Mary & Lawrence (Shorty) Ward of  Albany and maternal grandparents Mildred & Maurice Lisby of St. Albans, NY; and his aunt Margaret Harris Noonan of Albany.

A Memorial Service celebrating his life will be held on Saturday, April 17, 2021 at 12 noon at Macedonia Baptist Church, 26 Wilson Ave. Colonie, 12205 - Rev. Leonard D. Comithier,Jr, officiating.    In person attendance: face mask required; temperatures checked before entrance; seating according to social distancing guidelines.  Livestream: go to www.macedoniaofalbany.org/livestream. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to: In Our Own Voices Inc. 245 Lark St. Albany, NY 12210 or the Garth Fagan Dance Co. 50 Chestnut St. Rochester, NY 14604. 

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