Position: Womens Community Development Coordinator (WHAI)

Location: Sudbury

Reports to: Team Supervisor, Training and Resource Development

Term: Full-time, Permanent

Salary Range: $56,531 - $60,000 + benefits

Anticipated Start Date: March 2025

Context

The Ontario Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Strategy (Oahas) is an Indigenous-led organization committed to promoting and supporting healthy, thriving Indigenous communities through providing culturally grounded education and access to harm reduction to reduce the transmission of HIV and other STBBIs in our communities. Oahas operates based on the principles of Greater Involvement of People living with HIV/AIDS (GIPA), Meaningful Engagement of People living with HIV/AIDS (MEPA), nothing about us without us, Indigenous harm reduction, and respect for our cultural knowledges and teachings. These foundational principles guide all aspects of our relationships and work.

Organizational Values

Oahas organizational values are Autonomy and self-determination, Accessibility, Innovation, Justice, Connection, Accountability, Hope and Advocacy. Based on our organizational values, we have developed agency-wide accountability behaviours that are shared with all Oahas staff and used as part of our performance evaluation tools. These include engaging in the work using direct communication, kindness, generosity of spirit, and respect.

Summary

Women & HIV/AIDS Initiative (WHAI) is a community-based response to HIV and AIDS among cis and trans women, Two-Spirit and non-binary people in Ontario. WHAI is a provincial network rooted in the principles of community development and collective impact. The Womens Community Development Coordinator position at Oahas works alongside the WHAI network and the Oahas Training and Resource Development Team to modify and adapt, develop and implement resources and trainings that focus on Indigenous women (cis and trans) and non-binary and Two-Spirit people to meet the following goals: reduce HIV transmission among Indigenous women, enhance local community capacity to address HIV and AIDS in relation to Indigenous peoples, and to build safer environment to support Indigenous women and their HIV and AIDS-related needs.

This position is located in Sudbury, Ontario, reports to the Team Supervisor, with the following areas of responsibilities:Community Development & Networking, Facilitation & Education Service Delivery, Resource Development, Distribution & Implementation, Research & Program Evaluation, and Administration.

Key Responsibilities

Community Development & Networking

• Establishes, facilitates, and maintains collaborative partnership opportunities with community organizations, groups, and networks in Ontario that serve Indigenous women (cis and trans), non-binary and Two-Spirit people living with and at increased risk of HIV.

• Participates in provincial Women and HIV/AIDS Initiative (WHAI) network meetings, trainings, committees and forums.

• Provides linkages between women serving organizations and Oahas program sites for harm reduction supports etc.

• Works with provincial and local community partners where Oahas sites are located to effectively engage in prevention and support to Indigenous women (cis and trans), non-binary and Two-Spirit people living with and at increased risk for HIV.

• Participates in Ontario focused planning initiatives related to womens issues and promotes the integration of HIV/AIDS into programs, services, and policies/procedures.

• Provides HIV/AIDS-relatedreferralsto local community organizations where Oahas sites are located andstrengthens the relationshipbetween the local HIV sector and other women-serving sectors.

• Establishes and maintains community development opportunities with provincial and local community organizations where Oahas sites are located who are working with women who use substances, and supports Indigenous women (cis and trans), non-binary and Two-Spirit people connecting with harm reduction supplies and resources.

Facilitation & Education Services Delivery

• Engages diverse groups of Indigenous women (cis and trans), non-binary and Two-Spirit people living with and at risk for HIV to assess needs and service access barriers to inform community development work.

• Develops, evaluates, and modifies adult education models, frameworks, and workshops to ensure the goals of the program are achieved and the needs of those requesting training are met.

• Accesses up to date local research and culturally grounded resources to inform the content of trainings and workshops.

• Delivers educational training and workshop modules to local agencies and groups that serve women, with the aim of increasing their capacity to integrate HIV and AIDS prevention services and reduce HIV stigma.

• Develops materials, trainings and presentations on a broad range of HIV related issues impacting Indigenous women (cis and trans), non-binary and Two-Spirit people, including safer sex, safer drug use, harm reduction, and HIV prevention strategies for those living with HIV (e.g., poz prevention).

• Identifies and/or supports the development of policies and procedures to advance HIV and AIDS services for women and promotes these within organizations that serve Indigenous women.

• Maintains training materials to reflect evolving needs of Indigenous women (cis and trans), non-binary and Two-Spirit people living with or at risk of acquiring HIV, including updating/creating materials based on sector and community trends and impacts.

• Engages with community connected to Oahas (i.e. Community Advisory Committee etc.) to get feedback on the content, design and delivery of training materials.

Resource Development, Distribution & Implementation

• Leads the development of Indigenous women (cis and trans), non-binary and Two-Spirit people -specific resources and campaigns in collaboration with the Provincial Initiative (WHAI) and with the support of the Oahas Training and Resource Development Team, with a focus on adapting and creating content, messaging, visuals and other materials that are relevant to an Indigenous audience.

• Maintains and distributes current resource materials and other HIV and risk reduction tools (e.g., insertive condoms) to community partners, as available and required.

• Works collaboratively with Oahas teams to integrate Indigenous women (cis and trans), non-binary and Two-Spirit peoples perspectives in PrEP messaging and resources for Indigenous community.

• Contributes to joint projects with community partners to enhance the response to Indigenous women (cis and trans), non-binary and Two-Spirit peoples HIV prevention and support needs.

• Engage with community connected to Oahas (i.e. Community Advisory Committee etc.) to get feedback on the development of resource materials.

Research & Program Evaluation

• Provides accurate data to allow complete reports required by the project funder (AIDS Bureau, Ministry of Health & Long-Term Care).

• Supports local and provincial research in areas related to women and HIV.

• Participates in monitoring and program evaluation activities to ensure optimal quality of service delivery to local communities.

• Identifies gaps and challenges in the response to Indigenous women (cis and trans), non-binary and Two-Spirit peoples HIV prevention and support needs and suggest strategies to address them.

• Support the development of agency-wide internal standards for training, including auditing existing training delivered across the agency.

Administrative & General Duties

• Collaborate with the Training & Resource Development Team, including maintaining active communication with teammates for a smooth and efficient workflow.

• Participate on Oahas teams and external committees to communicate information, resolve problems and achieve the goals of the organization in relation to the WHAI program.

• Ongoing program reporting, data collection, file maintenance and records management, including completing OCHART database entries and WHAI Progress Reports.

• Engage in WHAI program planning through the development of a workplan.

• Ongoing compliance with Oahas policies and procedures is a requirement for this job.

• May be required to assist with projects and other agency initiatives.

Additional Expectations

• Flexibility with schedule and ability to work evenings and weekends on occasion.

• Share in the care and responsibility for Traditional Medicines and bundle items as per protocol.
• Travel throughout the province will be required with advance notice.

Qualifications

• Minimum of three (3) years work experience in health promotion or community development; post-secondary degree or diploma in a relevant discipline.

• Demonstrated knowledge and experience in developing and delivering adult education and training.

• Thorough understanding of HIV, AIDS, safer sex, and harm reduction principles and practices.

• Direct in-depth experience in speaking about Indigenous women (cis and trans), non-binary and Two-Spirit peoples health, gender equity issues, and strength-based approaches.

• Experience working with people living with HIV, Indigenous people, women, trans folx and Two-Spirit people, as well as experience working in harm reduction is an asset.

• Competency and a good understanding of Indigenous culture and ways, teachings and history.

• Experience the delivery of prevention, harm reduction, outreach, education, community-based, social services, health or cultural services.

• Passion for nurturing culturally appropriate, community participation and modelling effective leadership within Indigenous communities.

• Prefer a diploma or degree in a relevant field and/or a combination of related experience.

• Ability to build trust, strengthen communication, establish partnerships within communities.

• Ability to speak openly and freely about substance use, sexuality in a sex-positive, non-judgmental manner with service users and harm reduction workers (peers).

• Excellent personal and professional boundaries.

• Ability to exercise tact, diplomacy and respect when communicating with the Indigenous communities, stakeholders, other agencies and external contacts.

• Strong planning, organizational and team skills; ability to work in Microsoft Office Suite.

• Ability to work outside regular working hours as required, travel throughout a region will be required which may include evening and weekends.

• Valid Ontario G drivers license is an asset.

• Ability to speak an Indigenous language is an asset.

Skills

• Experience with developing and delivering educational materials that are accessible to diverse learning styles including best practices for adult education

• Familiarity with impact measurement and evaluation

• Precision and attention to detail is critical

• Proficient with computer technology, including Microsoft Office Suite, Adobe Suite, InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Educational Technology platforms, and various social media platforms

• Demonstrated interpersonal, decision-making, problem solving, conflict management, critical thinking, analytical and organizational skills

• Commitment to social justice, diversity, equity, and anti-oppression principles

• Manage multiple projects simultaneously and prioritize tasks to meet deadlines

• Strong communication skills, including ability to practice diplomacy, obtain/provide information effectively and tactfully with team members and partners

Oahas is an equal-opportunity employer. We strive to build an inclusive workforce that reflects the rich diversity of the communities in which we live. To this end, we strongly encourage applications from persons with lived experience with drug use, sex work, homelessness, street involvement; those living with HIV/HCV; members of 2SLGBTQ communities, Indigenous people, members of diverse ethnocultural communities, and persons with dis/abilities.