ACT's Strategic Plan 2006 - 2010


Cornerstones for Collaboration, Strategies for Success
The AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT) Strategic Plan 2006 - 2010

(For PDF version, click here).
Introduction | Mission, Vision, Values | Strategic Directions | Accountability | Conclusion

Note: The ACT Board of Director's extended this Strategic Plan (originally scheduled to expire in 2009) to 2010, at the Board meeting held on February 23, 2009.
Introduction
The AIDS Committee of Toronto — ACT — has been a leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS since 1983 — locally, provincially and nationally. The nature and demands of the AIDS epidemic have changed and ACT has continually changed its programs and services to respond. Cornerstones for Collaboration, Strategies for Success is ACT’s strategic plan for the next three years. It is our roadmap for how we will continue to respond to the challenges of Toronto’s changing HIV/AIDS demographic — what we will do and how we will do it.

How We Developed Our Strategic Plan
Transparency and consultation with ACT’s stakeholder groups guided the development of our new strategic plan.

ACT’s Board conducted a three-step community consultation:
    1. We asked the community to tell us how they thought ACT should move forward in the coming years. The Board used this information to develop five Strategic Directions.
    2. ACT’s Board tested the five Strategic Directions in the broader community, using focus groups, one-on-one interviews and an on-line and print survey. We did our best to make sure that our clients, volunteers and staff knew about and had an opportunity to participate in at least one of these activities.
    3. ACT’s Board reviewed and took into account the results of the community test of the Strategic Directions to develop a Draft Strategic Plan — then, tested the Draft with some selected community stakeholders.

Cornerstones for Collaboration, Strategies for Success reflects what ACT heard during these community consultations.

In addition, ACT’s strategic plan honours our dialogue and discussion with the Toronto People With AIDS Foundation (TPWAF) about the possibility of merging. Those talks ultimately proved unsuccessful. However, our work with TPWAF in developing joint Vision and Values statements and reaching a clearer understanding of the need for collaborative responses to changing realities are cornerstones of our plan.

Reflecting our commitment to on-going cooperation with TPWAF, we invited its participation in our planning process. Two TPWAF representatives sat on ACT’s Strategic Planning Committee. ACT would like to express our thanks to them for their contributions to our strategic work.

We also developed our plan in the context of the Ontario AIDS Bureau’s Community Planning Initiative (CPI). CPI is encouraging ACT and other local community-based AIDS service organizations (ASOs) to look at innovative and integrated ways to deliver services to people living with and at risk for HIV/AIDS. ACT welcomes this way of working together.


Our Vision, Mission and Values

Vision
The AIDS Committee of Toronto is a leader in developing and delivering programs and services that contribute to achieving a world without HIV/AIDS.

Mission
The AIDS Committee of Toronto delivers responsive, effective, and valued community-based HIV support services and education, prevention, outreach and fundraising programs that promote the health, well-being, worth and rights of individuals and communities living with, affected by and at risk for HIV/AIDS, and increase awareness of HIV/AIDS.

Values
ACT has nine core values:

Voices and Experiences of People Living with HIV/AIDS
    • We are committed to the involvement of people living with HIV/AIDS at all levels of the organization.

Origins in and Commitment to Gay and Lesbian Communities and People Living with HIV/AIDS
    • We honour the origins of the AIDS Committee of Toronto which are rooted in voluntarism and activism by communities of people living with HIV/AIDS, gay men and lesbians.
    • We remain committed to working with and serving the needs of these communities.

Diversity and Inclusion
    • We value the diversity, distinct needs and contributions of our program and service users, volunteers, staff and supporters.
    • Our diversity includes, but is not limited to, individuals and communities from a variety of ages, cultures, (dis)abilities, genders, HIV status, languages, races, religions, sexual identities and socioeconomic status.
    • We recognize the presence and impact of all forms of discrimination and marginalization on individuals and communities living with and at risk of HIV/AIDS, and are committed to eliminating them.

Client-Centred Services
    • We value confidential, responsive, caring, respectful and non-judgmental services that promote the health of people living with and at risk for HIV/AIDS.
    • We work with individuals and communities to enable them to take an active role in planning and directing their care.
    • We support targeted strategies to meet particular needs of people living with and at risk for HIV/AIDS.

Informed Choices
    • We support the overwhelming evidence that HIV causes AIDS.
    • We value the rights of individuals to make informed choices that include, but are not limited to, sex, sexuality, reproduction, health care, substance use and treatment.
    • We commit to harm and risk reduction as empirically validated approaches to providing information and education in the effort to reduce people's risk of HIV infection.

Excellence in Service
    • We value and support the role and commitment of staff and volunteers in achieving excellence in service.
    • We value community engagement and the use of research and evaluation to ensure that programs and services remain responsive to evolving needs.

Collaboration
    • We are committed to working collaboratively with others to mutually strengthen our efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS locally, provincially, nationally and internationally.

Advocacy
    • We work to effect changes at individual, community, service and policy levels to improve the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS and address the factors that put people at risk for HIV.

Accountability
    • We value the trust program and service users, volunteers, staff, funders and supporters have in us and we are committed to being transparent and accountable to them for the use of our resources.


Our Five Strategic Directions for Success
Five strategic directions will guide ACT’s work over the next three years.

Strategic Direction 1: Investing in Leadership and Collaboration

Competency-based Leadership
    • People make plans happen. ACT will focus on competency-based leadership to make sure that all ACT volunteers and staff have the values, skills and knowledge they need to support and serve PHAs and people at risk of and affected by HIV/AIDS.

Diversity and Cultural Competence
    • As an organization, ACT will reflect the diversity of our community and clients and we will strive for the highest standard of cultural competence.
    • ACT will support the current and emerging ASO community leaders, reflecting the values of consultation, collaboration and partnership that are central to the Community Planning Initiative.
    • In the spirit of collaborative leadership and to develop community capacity and services for people living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs), ACT will create a new Community Partners Program (CPP) in consultation with our community partners. The new program will replace the current Community Partners Fund (CPF). Working with our community partners, we will build on the CPF’s successes that have contributed over $2.8 million to local ASOs since 1989.

Strategic Direction 2: Reaching People at Risk of HIV Infection

Strategic Investments and Partnership
    • ACT will make strategic investments in HIV prevention through partnerships with service providers and continued, meaningful participation in the local Community Planning Initiative.
    • ACT will continue to play a leadership role in HIV prevention within the gay community and, when appropriate, within the broader communities of men who have sex with men.
    • ACT will play a leadership role in supporting the development and implementation of an HIV/AIDS prevention strategy for women.
    • Collaborating within the Toronto HIV/AIDS community and with other organizations, ACT will provide effective HIV prevention strategies for communities at risk that we will deliver in partnership with other ASOs or that other ASOs will deliver.
    • ACT will support emerging communities and populations to create specific HIV prevention strategies.

Strategic Direction 3: Strengthening Support Services for People Living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs) and Those Affected by HIV/AIDS

Improving Quality of Life
    • ACT will improve the quality of life of PHAs and those affected by HIV/AIDS by making strategic investments in client-centred and community-based services for all PHAs and people affected by HIV/AIDS.
    • ACT will continue meaningful participation in the local Community Planning Initiative.
    • ACT recognizes the broader service community and the right of PHAs and people affected by HIV/AIDS to have a choice about where they receive services. ACT will identify the services where it will play a role as lead agency, be a collaborator among partners or when we will provide support for HIV/AIDS initiatives that other community agencies deliver.

Strategic Direction 4: Influencing the Environment Affecting People at Risk and PHAs

Building Stakeholder Relations Capacity
    • Building on our community’s awareness of ACT and our research, communication and public education knowledge, skills and resources, ACT will work to influence community debate on HIV/AIDS issues.
    • With others, ACT will develop strategies to increase our participation in policy discussions, our government relations capacities and our public education role about issues affecting people at risk of HIV/AIDS and PHAs.
    • With other partners, ACT will increase our efforts to create strategies to influence government funding for services and programs for PHAs and people at risk.

Strategic Direction 5: Strengthening and Diversifying Financial Resources

Achieving Sustainability
    • ACT will review our fundraising capacities and diversify our fundraising revenue base with a focus on strengthening our donor relations.
    • ACT will continue to identify opportunities to collaborate with other agencies on fundraising initiatives.

Accountability
Accountability is fundamental to implementing ACT’s Strategic Plan. ACT’s Board is accountable to ACT’s clients, staff, volunteers, funders, donors and the community for carrying out all activities with transparency, respect for confidentiality and to the highest ethical and professional standards. This includes accountability for:
    • governance and oversight;
    • responsible staff, volunteer and financial management;
    • maintaining openness and transparency;
    • confidentiality and privacy of information; and,
    • avoiding any conflict of interest.

Conclusion
Cornerstones for Collaboration, Strategies for Success is based on five key principles:
    • client-centred and community-based governance and operational decision-making;
    • transparent decision-making for deciding when and how ACT ought to lead, collaborate with others, or support the work that others do so that clients will be served in the best possible way;
    • active participation in the Community Planning Initiative — continuing and building on our past commitment to city-wide needs assessments and planning processes;
    • investing in and showing “evidence-informed” decision-making (that is, making decisions based on formal information gathering and verification) about local needs, preferences, capacities, opportunities, constraints and what works best for different groups; and,
    • accountability.

ACT is committed to continuing to be a key player within the community of ASOs and other service providers. This includes recognizing the need for flexibility and creativity in responding to the issues confronting PHAs, those at risk of and affected by HIV/AIDS.

We also recognize the value of collaborating to make the best use of all the available expertise and resources to meet and the many challenges that lay ahead.

We will identify programming initiatives that are consistent with ACT’s vision, mission, values and strategic directions and determine our role as a lead agency, equal partner agency, or supportive partner agency.

Whatever agreed-upon role, our community and our partners can be confident that we will approach partnerships with respect, transparency and commitment to contribute to the best of our ability.

The AIDS Committee of Toronto has a proud history of achievement in addressing the impact of HIV/AIDS. Building on our successes — using our knowledge, skills and experience — we look forward to navigating new pathways of program and service delivery and to strengthening our participation and partnerships with our community. As always, our community can depend on ACT to lead, to serve and be successful in continuing to respond effectively to the ever-changing nature and demands of the epidemic.

For more information on ACT’s strategic plan, programs and services, please contact:

Executive Director
399 Church Street, 4th floor
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5B 2J6
tel: 416-340-2437