We are happy to welcome Emily to the PAN team. Emily is a nurse who has a long working relationship with Cool Aid. Emily is pursuing a Masters in Public Health at University of Victoria and will be working with the Research and Evaluation department at PAN. Read about other members of our team in the Meet the People at PAN series.
What sparked your interest in working in the HIV or hepatitis C community?
My first spark came during my undergraduate degree; a BScN from St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. My community health professor Jane Moseley showed the documentary “Bevel Up” (viewable on the National Film Board of Canada site). This spark might be a bit of a romanticized one, but it worked! Through my journey as a nurse I have been gifted many amazing relationships that fed my curiosity into what determines health – and what determines those determinants! I remember being told by another professor at St.FX once “when your start nursing, your only job is to keep people alive. But somewhere along the way, you are going to want to enrich their lives.” Meeting community members – and struggling to meet others – through my time as an outreach nurse in Victoria solidified that spark and led me to pursue my MPH through the University of Victoria.
What kind of impact do you hope your work has on the “real world”?
That is an interesting question that I think about a lot! Clint Kuzio, a Cree lawyer, and teacher I met through the Victoria Cool Aid Society once described someone to me as “the real deal.” As I remember, he was describing someone who was not just full of academic rhetoric and performances, but full of real action. In Peter Kalina’s 2020 article “Performative Allyship”, the author writes “real activism requires carrying out simple daily acts that no one will see.” So, when I think about my impact – I often hope for tangible, quiet impact. Not small or silent, but quiet and real.
What are you looking forward to in your work over the next year?
Over the next year I am extremely excited to dig into several research and evaluation projects at PAN during my practicum! And beyond that, I am looking forward to finding a little gap in knowledge where I can wiggle in for my thesis work. My brain is going to do some stretching!
If you had unlimited funds, what parts of community work would you invest in? (research, outreach, training, etc.)
OUTREACH! I may be biased because I have witnessed outreach do amazing thing. I think outreach is at the heart of safe places, trusting relationships, has the ability to decentralize care, break down barriers and power dynamics, and carries vital local knowledge and context. However, often outreach is most successful because of incredibly patient, impassioned and committed individuals or communities – but it is a hard job!! and those services deserve unlimited support to make outreach sustainable.
If you could work with a celebrity, who would it be and what would you be doing?
I would choose Matty Matheson. Specifically, we would be doing an episode of his “Just a Dash” (YouTube!). I would be likely shell-shocked in a corner of his kitchen – but also hopefully I would get to eat something really yummy – like his one pot Sichuan Chili Fish.