The Positive Leadership Development Institute (PLDI), a three-module leadership training program led by and for people living with HIV (PLHIV), has delivered 20 sessions of leadership training to over 167 participants in BC since 2009, when PAN’s partnership with the Ontario AIDS Network was established.
The purpose of this highly-valued series of three- and four-day training programs is to support people living with HIV/AIDS to realize their leadership potential and meaningful participation in community life. Each PLDI training includes an evaluation process and the feedback collected after each session been very positive. But what are the larger impacts of the training? What leadership activities do PLDI participants participate in after they complete any or all three of the PLDI modules? After all these years, PAN and the PLDI Leadership decided it is time for a comprehensive evaluation of the training program – we know that PLDI participants are accomplishing great things in the community and it is time to gather the information needed to tell that story!
In keeping with the PLDI’s mandate to deliver training by and for PLHIV, four peer evaluators – Paul Kerber, Darcy McFadden, Martin Morberg and Candice Norris – were hired in June 2016 to drive this evaluation project. Curious about who these wonderful individuals are and what brought them to this project? Don’t fret! Each team member will be introduced in more detail with individual ‘5 Questions With’ blog posts in the coming weeks. Darcy, Candice, Martin and Paul have been hard at work to develop an online survey and qualitative interview questions to gather the data needed to conduct this evaluation. The team is also reviewing feedback forms from the individual training sessions to determine some of the immediate impacts of the PLDI training sessions.
So… Are you a positive person who hasn’t taken a PLDI training session? Have you completed a PLDI training module? Are you a staff person at a community based organization? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, PAN and the peer evaluators leading this evaluation would love to learn more about your thoughts and experiences related to the PLDI training program – please click here to participate in a 10-30 minute survey! All survey participants have the chance to win a $50 gift card. At the end of the survey, you’ll also be invited to provide your contact information to participate in a 30- to 45-minute follow-up qualitative interview. If you would only like to do an interview but not the survey, please email us at [email protected] to set up a time to chat.
We sincerely hope you’ll consider participating in the PLDI impact evaluation to help us understand what the PLDI has achieved and how the training might be improved! We are eager to learn more about your thoughts and experiences related to the PLDI and we look forward to sharing the highlights of this evaluation with our membership.