Positive Leadership: Leaders are learners
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There may be nothing more important for our community than supporting people living with HIV to become leaders. Host James Watson chats with his guests Tara Jewal and Marc Seguin, provincial managers of the Positive Leadership Development Institute (PLDI), and explores what it means to be a leader. PLDI recognizes the leadership potential in everyone and seeks to increase their ability to meaningfully engage in community life. Our response to the HIV epidemic would not be nearly as successful without the advent of effective leadership programs like PLDI.
Our episode guests
Tara Jewal
Manager, Positive Leadership Development Institute ON and Special Events
Tara offers over a decade of professional expertise gained through national and international work, and volunteer roles. She has worked with the federal government, the Toronto People with AIDS Foundation, The Teresa Group, and currently manages the Positive Leadership Development Institute on behalf of the Ontario AIDS Network. She currently sits on The Federated Health Charity board and is Co-chair of The International Community of Women Living with HIV, North American chapter. Tara offers a unique and valuable perspective when it comes to living with HIV and enjoys inspiring others to truly live life to the fullest.
Text or phone? Text
Freedom or hope? Freedom
Dogs or cats? Cats
Rain or snow? Rain
Piercings or Tattoos? Tattoos
Marc Seguin
Manager, Positive Leadership Development Institute BC
Marc began his work in the HIV community as a volunteer with Friends for Life and the Retreat Team with Positive Living BC. Over time, his volunteering evolved into 7 days a week and Marc found himself to be a “career-volunteer.” In 2006 he took a leap of faith and transferred his built skills into paid work with Positive Living BC as the Manager of Volunteer Services until 2019. In his current role as Manager of the Positive Leadership Development Institute (PLDI) at the Pacific AIDS Network, he wants to provide the opportunity for as many people living with HIV as possible to attend the leadership development trainings.
Text or phone? Phone
Freedom or hope? Hope
Dogs or cats? Dogs
Rain or snow? Rain
Piercings or Tattoos? Piercings
Show Notes
It is without question that our response to the HIV epidemic would not be nearly as successful without effective leadership.
Host James Watson chats with his guests Tara Jewal and Marc Seguin, both provincial managers of the Positive Leadership Development Institute (PLDI), about their approach to leadership and the exciting work they do. PLDI is a program that aims to support people living with HIV to realize their leadership potential and increase their capacity to participate meaningfully in community life. We can all be leaders, because as our guests point out, leaders are learners!
Tara offers over a decade of professional expertise gained through national and international work, and volunteer roles. She has worked with the federal government, the Toronto People with AIDS Foundation, The Teresa Group, and currently manages the Positive Leadership Development Institute on behalf of the Ontario AIDS Network.
Similar to his counterpart, Marc began his work in the HIV community as a volunteer with Friends for Life and the Retreat Team with Positive Living BC, which over time evolved into a paid position with Positive Living BC as the Manager of Volunteer Services. In his current role as Manager of the Positive Leadership Development Institute (PLDI) at the Pacific AIDS Network, he wants to provide leadership opportunities and encourage people living with HIV to meaningfully connect with their communities.
What defines leadership?
The conversation starts with an introduction to leadership development in HIV/AIDS work, and references the important work Greg Szekeres and his paper titled, Leadership Development and HIV/AIDS, as well as The Leadership Challenge, developed by James Kouzes and Barry Posner.
Core leadership components of PLDI that were discussed include:
- Modeling the way
- Inspiring a shared vision
- Encouraging the heart
- Enabling others to act
- Challenging the process.
More about PLDI
PLDI is a program of the Ontario AIDS Network (OAN) and was first launched in 2006. Since then, PLDI has expanded its reach to BC, where its programming is supported by the Pacific AIDS Network, and in Quebec, where it is supported by COCQ-SIDA (the Coalition of Quebec community organizations fighting against HIV/AIDS).
Visit the Ontario, BC, and Quebec web pages for more information on what exciting things PLDI is doing in each province, or contact our episode guests, Tara (tjewal@oan.red) and Marc (marc@pacificaidsnetwork.org) directly.
Are you considering this leadership training and would like to hear from a PLDI graduate? Check out the post titled, From the Front Lines: Learn to be a Leader, which is also available to read in French on the CATIE website.
