After 23 years of HIV and Hepatitis C leadership, research, and project management through its sites in Vancouver and Halifax, CAAN recently moved it national office to the Treaty 4 Governance Centre outside of Ft. Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan.
CAAN’s Board of Directors come from all across this land, each bringing our unique combination of lived experience, wisdom, traditions, and passions to our work.
The staff at CAAN is a beautifully diverse team of individuals from around the globe and many different nations, with each of us calling this land our home.
Volunteering is more than the giving of your time – it is sharing our stories and gifts with each other to create the beautiful story of CAAN.
CAAN provides a National forum for Aboriginal Peoples to wholistically address HIV and AIDS, HCV, STBBIs, TB, Mental Health, aging and related co-morbidity issues; promotes a Social Determinants of Health Framework through advocacy; and provides accurate and up to date resources on these issues in a culturally relevant manner for Aboriginal Peoples wherever they reside.
The philosophy of this agency is that all Aboriginal people deserve the right to protect ourselves against infectious disease. Education and prevention is focused on empowerment as Aboriginal people are encouraged to learn about the risks of HIV and AIDS and protect ourselves accordingly. To provide Aboriginal people with accurate and up-to-date information about the nature of the disease, the risks of contracting it, and the issues of care/treatment and support for those infected is the challenge that CAAN employees and directors face each day of their involvement with the agency.
CAAN is a national Aboriginal organization and as such is committed to addressing the issues of HIV within a Native context. Although the beliefs of Aboriginal people vary widely from region to region and from person to person, the agency has made a commitment to conduct its activities in a spirit of Native wholeness and healing. This disease can only be overcome by respecting our differences and accentuating our unity of spirit and strength.
The goals and objectives of the agency are:
CAAN is an incorporated, non-profit organization that is governed by a 13-member Board of Directors, of which Indigenous People Living with HIV and AIDS and Hepatitis C hold members-at-large positions. The Board members are legally responsible for the governance of the organization. Within that mandate is the expectation that the Board will develop, implement and monitor policies that allow the organization to carry out its work. Board members are elected by, and accountable to, the membership.
The Board’s role and responsibilities are based on three different activities of organizations.
The Management structure of CAAN consists of two levels of senior staff. A Chief Executive Officer (CEO) provides leadership to the organizations with two divisions, Research and Programs, led by Directors who report to the CEO. The Directors provide daily supervision of projects, activities, and initiatives and contribute to organizational leadership.
A second level of management includes the Policy Manager and Research and Logistics Manager, with additional long term Research Project managers and a Communication lead. These Managers meet frequently with the CEO and Directors regarding CAAN initiatives to contribute to efficient implementation and integration of organizational activities.
