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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, M ay 12 ,2 02 2 | 26 www.concretetrimmings.com CONCRETE FREE ESTIMATES 905-844-5518 1-888-944-5518 uality At Its Best! Call Fernando 1-888-944-5518 www 1-888-944-5518 • DRIVEWAYS • FRENCH CURBS • PATIOS • STEPS • WALKWAYS • GARAGE FLOORS ExposEd aggrEgatE (pebble) Inside Halton conducted a Q&A with new interim executive direc- tor of Our Kids Network, Elisa- beth Wells. Here's what she had to say: WHAT IS OUR KIDS NETWORK? Our Kids Network (OKN) is a Halton- wide partnership of agencies and organi- zations serving chil- dren and youth. Our vision is all children and youth thrive. We are a collective impact organiza- tion, and we build the capacity of community organizations that support children, youth and their families. As a Halton- wide partnership, we work col- lectively to mobilize knowledge and resources to support Halton professionals in their work. OKN is known for its Halton spe- cific research and data, and our strong relationships in the com- munity. WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF AN ORGANIZATION SUCH AS OKN IN A COMMUNITY? The network is important to the Halton community because we bring different community partners together to a common table, working towards our vi- sion that all children and youth thrive. As a network from across different sectors and community organizations, we can identify gaps and issues effecting chil- dren, youth and families and work collectively to organize ac- tion on these issues at the com- munity level. We provide the support to en- able that work to happen effective- ly at the community level; for ex- ample, by using data and evidence to identify and act on problems, by partnering and teaming up on im- portant initiatives, and by co-ordi- nating efforts among partners. It is the role of OKN to conduct and share research, promote and help sustain relationships, develop re- sources to help partners achieve their outcomes, and provide knowledge translation that edu- cates and informs partners in their work, leading to action and measurement of progress. COULD YOU EXPAND ON THE WORK OKN IS DOING TOWARDS INDIGENOUS RECONCILIATION? Our Indigenous reconciliation strategy provides leadership, tools and resources to increase professionals' knowledge about Indigenous literacy. A key aspect of our strategy includes support- ing professionals in Halton to in- crease their Indigenous literacy and build their capacity (to) ap- ply this knowledge in their work with children, youth and families in Halton. For example, our website of- fers a large library of resources for professionals that supports Indigenous literacy, including in- formation about the 94 calls to ac- tion from the Truth and Reconcil- iation report, Indigenous history and culture, and territorial ac- knowledgments just to name a few. COULD WE GET A GENERAL OVERVIEW OF WHERE OKN IS HEADED UNDER A NEW INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR? OKN is known for its research and data, and our strong relation- ships in the community. My goal is to continue to build on those strengths, focusing on research and knowledge translation to build our community's capacity to support children, youth and families. I am looking to work col- laboratively with community partners and identify opportuni- ties for us to collectively make an impact on the well-being of our children and youth. OKN has a strong research framework and we will continue to develop that capacity to better support the network and effec- tively move research and knowl- edge into action. We will focus on relationships to facilitate connec- tions and collective action across multiple sectors, we will advance awareness of evidence and knowledge by continuing to con- duct and share research that guides the network in planning and action, we will increase ac- cess to OKN data, resources and tools and we will facilitate profes- sional learning and skill develop- ment by continuing to provide engaging training and learning opportunities and workshops for professionals, ultimately moving research into practice. IS THE RESEARCH CONDUCTED BY OKN AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE? OKN collects, analyses and shares data across the communi- ty. We also help people interpret and use it effectively so they can make well informed decisions about programs and services for children and youth. We believe that data and information should be open, free and accessible to ev- eryone in our community so that everyone can work towards our vision that all children and youth thrive. For example, the OKN Da- ta Portal is an interactive data- base containing a large inventory of community-level data that is accessible to everyone. NEWS Elisabeth Wells is the new interim executive director of Our Kids Network. Graham Paine/Metroland THRIVING CHILDREN AND FAMILIES THE VISION OF OUR KIDS NETWORK INTERIM DIRECTOR SHARES GOALS FOR ORGANIZATION