Esther McGowan is the Director of Development at Aperture, but was the Executive Director of Visual AIDS from 2017-2023, and was Associate Director from 2012 to 2017. She has worked as a fundraiser, administrator, and grantmaker with a variety of arts organizations over three decades, including the Bronx Museum of the Arts, Watermill Center, Arts International, Art Matters, Center for Fiction, Alliance for the Arts, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, and Whitney Museum of American Art.