Thank You to Evin Jones
On behalf of the Board of Directors, we want to express our profound gratitude to Jennifer Evin Jones, who is stepping down as PAN’s Executive Director after 18 years of visionary leadership from 2008 to 2026.
When Evin first stepped into the role as PAN’s first Executive Director, the organization was in a very different place. Over nearly two decades, she has guided PAN through tremendous growth, significant change, and more than a few challenges. Throughout it all, Evin steadily expanded PAN’s vision, mission, and reach while building a strong and highly capable team.
Evin is the definition of a collaborative leader. She has always believed that PAN’s mission is best served when everyone has a voice. Rather than leading from the top down, she focused on mentoring others, fostering a culture of mutual respect, and creating an environment where people feel trusted and supported to contribute to PAN’s work.
At the heart of Evin’s leadership has been a deep commitment to social justice. This commitment first led her to begin working as an advocate at the then-BCPWA Society after graduating from law school in 1995. She went on to serve as Executive Director of YouthCO in 2000 and Friends For Life in 2004, bringing with her an ever-growing depth of experience and commitment to community-led change.
As PAN’s Executive Director, Evin consistently challenged herself and others to examine our shared work and challenges through the lenses of equity and social justice. She championed the leadership and expertise of people with lived and living experience, helping to ensure that community voices were not simply heard, but meaningfully centred in the development of community-led solutions. This commitment shaped PAN’s response to HIV and other STBBIs, the drug poisoning crisis, stigma, and the ongoing need to promote access to harm reduction.
Evin has also been a passionate and unwavering advocate for PAN’s members and for the vital work being done on the front lines. She understood that a strong community-based response requires more than recognition—it requires sustained support, adequate resources, accountability, and transparency. At the same time, she worked tirelessly to ensure that PAN remained accountable to both its member organizations and funders, while using her position to support people with lived and living experience to participate and lead in programs, research, policy, and community initiatives.
Beyond PAN’s strategic growth and advocacy, Evin has brought warmth, humanity, and a great deal of kindness to her work. She has built relationships that extend far beyond the virtual walls of PAN and has left an indelible mark on the people and communities who have had the privilege of working alongside her.
Evin, as you step into your well-deserved retirement, you leave behind an organization that is strong, resilient, and deeply rooted in the values you have spent 18 years championing. Your legacy is reflected not only in PAN’s growth and accomplishments, but also in the people you have mentored, the leaders you have supported, the communities you have stood beside, and the culture of dignity and respect you have helped create.
We are also deeply grateful for all you have done to support the Board and the organization through this transition, helping to ensure that PAN is well positioned to enter its next chapter with confidence and purpose.
Thank you, Evin, for your leadership, friendship, and 18 years of extraordinary service to PAN and to community. Your impact will be felt for many years to come. We wish you every happiness in this next chapter and hope you will enjoy the well-deserved opportunity to reflect on all that you have accomplished.
If you would like to share a personal message or well wishes for Evin, please consider signing her card here.
Welcoming PAN’s Next Chapter: Joanna Mendell and Jennifer Demchuk
As we celebrate Evin’s remarkable contribution to PAN, we are also looking ahead with great excitement.
The Board of Directors is extremely pleased to announce the appointment of Joanna Mendell and Jennifer Demchuk as PAN’s new Co-Executive Directors, effective September 1.
Many of you already know Joanna and Jennifer well. Both have been integral to PAN’s success for years, providing leadership in the Research and Evaluation and Capacity Building departments, respectively. In their roles as Directors, they have strengthened and evolved PAN’s programs and services, supported innovation across our member network, and built deep relationships with PAN’s member organizations, partners, and allies across the sector.
The decision to move to a co-leadership model reflects the Board’s confidence in both Joanna and Jennifer and our belief that this approach is well aligned with PAN’s values and the opportunities ahead.
Together, they bring complementary strengths, significant leadership experience, and a shared commitment to community-led solutions. The co-leadership model provides important continuity for PAN’s existing operations, advocacy, programs, and funding partnerships, while also positioning the organization to respond to future challenges and opportunities.
Joanna and Jennifer bring strong institutional knowledge, longstanding relationships, and a deep understanding of PAN’s programs, members, and the broader community-based response. They have each demonstrated themselves to be thoughtful and highly capable leaders with a strong commitment to PAN’s mission, values, members, and communities.
The Board is confident that their combined leadership will build upon PAN’s strong foundation while bringing new ideas, energy, and vision to the organization.
About PAN’s New Co-Executive Directors
Joanna Mendell began working with PAN as a practicum student in 2013 and continued supporting community-based research projects on contract before joining PAN full-time in 2019 as Research Coordinator. In 2020, Joanna became Manager of Research, and in 2022 she was promoted to Director of Research and Evaluation.
Joanna holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Victoria and a Bachelor of Science from the University of British Columbia. Over 13 years in research and knowledge mobilization roles at PAN, the BC Centre on Substance Use, Simon Fraser University, and the University of British Columbia, she has developed expertise in community-based research, integrated knowledge translation, and health equity. Her work focuses on HIV and STBBIs, substance use and harm reduction, and rural and remote health.
Joanna currently leads several provincially and nationally funded research initiatives, including the CIHR-funded Thrive Community-Based Research Team Grant, which supports community-led research and capacity building in smaller urban, rural, and remote communities across British Columbia.
Jennifer Demchuk joined PAN in July 2021 as Interim Research Manager and has since taken on progressively senior leadership roles, including Manager of Research and Evaluation and Acting Director of Research and Evaluation. Following Stacy LeBlanc’s retirement, Jennifer became Director of Capacity Building Initiatives.
Jennifer is a collaborative and values-driven leader with more than 20 years of experience in community engagement, organizational leadership, advocacy, capacity building, and systems change. During her time at PAN, she has helped shape and strengthen the organization’s strategic direction, programs, partnerships, and impact across British Columbia.
Prior to joining PAN, Jennifer spent close to two decades in the labour movement in leadership roles spanning advocacy, adult education, communications, governance, policy development, and coalition building. She brings a strong ability to navigate complexity, build relationships across diverse perspectives, and translate shared priorities into meaningful action. Her leadership is grounded in relationship building, equity, strategic thinking, and a commitment to strengthening organizations and the communities they serve.
Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Regina, specializing in Marketing and Human Resources, and has completed additional training in strategic planning, leadership development, Indigenous cultural safety, research ethics, evaluation, and community-based research methodologies.
Looking Forward, Together
Transitions in leadership are significant moments in the life of any organization. They provide an opportunity both to reflect on where we have come from and to consider where we are going.
PAN enters this transition from a position of strength. That strength has been built over many years through the dedication of our staff, the leadership of our Board, the commitment of our members, and the trust and collaboration of our funders, partners, and allies. Most importantly, it has been built through a shared commitment to the communities we serve.
We are deeply grateful to Evin for the foundation she has helped build and for the leadership she has provided over the past 18 years. At the same time, we are excited about the future and the opportunity to build upon that foundation.
Joanna and Jennifer take on their new roles at a time when strong, collaborative, and community-centred leadership is more important than ever. The challenges facing our communities and sector continue to evolve, but so too do the opportunities to strengthen our collective response.
The Board is excited to support Joanna and Jennifer as they lead PAN into this next chapter. We have great confidence in their leadership and in the collective strength of PAN’s staff, members, partners, and communities.
PAN’s next chapter is not simply about new leadership. It is about continuing the work we do together—building strong and connected communities, supporting community leadership, responding to emerging challenges, and advancing equity and social justice.
We invite you to join us in thanking Evin for her extraordinary contribution and in congratulating Joanna and Jennifer as they begin their new roles as Co-Executive Directors.
We look forward to continuing this journey together.
Please join us at PAN’s Annual General Meeting on October 19 to celebrate this important moment and welcome Joanna and Jennifer in their new roles. Registration information is available here.
With gratitude and optimism for the future,
Darren Lauscher
PAN Board Co-Chair
Katrina Jensen
PAN Board Co-Chair
Rosalind Baltzer Turje
PAN Treasurer