Work Begins on ACT's 2006-09 Strategic Plan

The AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT) Board of Directors is excited to announce that work has begun on the agency's 2006-09 Strategic Plan. The goal of the strategic planning process is to better define the agency's role within the greater community of AIDS service organizations (ASOs) and thereby strengthen our mission to "provide support, HIV prevention, and education services for people living with and at risk for HIV/AIDS."

Since ACT's last strategic plan four years ago, trends in HIV infection and approaches to HIV/AIDS treatment have changed. So have funding and fundraising environments and the need for greater collaboration with community partners in program delivery.

Our decision to embark on strategic planning now was influenced by our fruitful but ultimately unsuccessful merger discussions with the Toronto People with AIDS Foundation (TPWAF) and by the launch of the Ontario Ministry of Health AIDS Bureau's Community Planning Initiative, which encourages local community-based AIDS service organizations such as ACT to look at innovative and integrated ways of delivering services to people living with and at risk for HIV/AIDS.

We have decided to be proactive. By re-examining the services we provide, who we provide them to, and how they are delivered within this context, we hope to establish a clear direction for ACT that will allow us to formulate innovative ways to improve and expand our programming.

As we develop the new strategic plan, the Board will honour the process and relationships that evolved during the merger discussions with TPWAF. ACT's planning committee is pleased that two TPWAF representatives will join with us in the planning process.

Community input and consultation are an equally important part of the process. To ensure that it is as transparent and inclusive as possible, we will be inviting our stakeholders to respond to a draft version of the strategic plan. Stakeholder input will be then incorporated into the final version of the plan.

We are pleased to announce that the Dianne Lister Group, which has a track record of achievement working with the LGBTT communities and with the health sector, has been recruited to assist in the planning process.

We look forward to hearing from you throughout the process as we work together to set out the renewed vision for the agency’s future.

John Lavis
Chair, ACT Board of Directors