{"id":18,"date":"2013-03-06T21:18:19","date_gmt":"2013-03-06T21:18:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/aidslaw\/?page_id=18"},"modified":"2025-09-18T12:00:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T16:00:12","slug":"board-of-directors","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/our-story\/board-of-directors\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Meet Our Board"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#directors\">2025\u20132026 Board of Directors<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#structure\">Structure<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"..\/..\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/CHLN-By-Law1-2013_Approved-13-June-2013_EN.pdf\" target=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">By-laws<\/a> (PDF)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a name=\"directors\"><\/a><br \/>\n<div class=\"su-divider su-divider-style-default\" style=\"margin:15px 0;border-width:1px;border-color:#ccc\"><\/div>\n<h2>2025\u20132026 Board of Directors<\/h2>\n<div class=\"su-divider su-divider-style-dotted\" style=\"margin:15px 0;border-width:1px;border-color:#999\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-row\">\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-1-3 board-profile\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<h3>Laura Bisaillon <span class=\"none\">(Co-Vice Chair)<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-2-3 profile-text\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<div class=\"su-expand su-expand-collapsed su-expand-link-style-default\" data-height=\"1\"><div class=\"su-expand-content su-u-trim\" style=\"color:#333333;max-height:1px;overflow:hidden\">\n<p>Laura Bisaillon joined the Legal Network\u2019s Board of Directors in 2025. From Montreal, she is fluent in French and English.<\/p>\n<p>Laura is a professor at the University of Toronto. She is a sociologist and institutional ethnographer working at the confluence of law, medicine, regulation, disablism and everyday life. She analyses the ways that lay, expert and bureaucratic knowledges converge, and the material consequences of these interactions.<\/p>\n<p>As staff, board member and volunteer, she has been involved in HIV care, service, social research and advocacy for twenty years. Her book <em>Screening Out: HIV Testing and the Canadian Immigration Experience<\/em> (University of British Columbia, 2022) and film <em>The Unmaking of Medical Inadmissibility<\/em> (Inadmissibles Art Collective, 2020) inform legal research, education and reform related to s. 38(1)(c) of the <em>Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, <\/em>which is Canada\u2019s \u2018excessive demand\u2019 provision.<\/p>\n<p>Her university course \u201cAIDS and its Legacies\u201d examines Canadian contributions to the cultural and historical study of HIV\/AIDS. She looks forward to contributing her expertise in immigration and travel, testing, and women\u2019s rights, assisting the Legal Network to carry out its goals.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"su-expand-link su-expand-link-more\" style=\"text-align:left\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" style=\"color:#0088FF;border-color:#0088FF\"><span style=\"border-color:#0088FF\">View Profile<\/span><\/a><\/div><div class=\"su-expand-link su-expand-link-less\" style=\"text-align:left\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" style=\"color:#0088FF;border-color:#0088FF\"><span style=\"border-color:#0088FF\">Close<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-divider su-divider-style-dotted\" style=\"margin:15px 0;border-width:1px;border-color:#999\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-row\">\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-1-3 board-profile\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<h3>Jeansil Bruy\u00e8re <span class=\"none\">(he\/him, Treasurer)<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-2-3 profile-text\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<div class=\"su-expand su-expand-collapsed su-expand-link-style-default\" data-height=\"1\"><div class=\"su-expand-content su-u-trim\" style=\"color:#333333;max-height:1px;overflow:hidden\">\n<p>Jeansil&#8217;s contributions to the HIV sector span from volunteering for the Farah Foundation in the late 2000s to capacity building with Ugandan HIV-led organizations after his first undergraduate degree. His introduction to the HIV Legal Network came in 2012 when he attended the 4th Symposium on HIV, Law &amp; Human Rights. Jeansil formally joined the orbit of the Legal Network as a Legal Policy Intern in the Summer of 2015. In his more than 15 years of contributing to the sector, he has worked at COCQ-SIDA, AIDS Community Care Montreal, and a variety of regional, provincial, and national consultation committees. As a proud Montrealer who completed his B.C.L.\/LL.B. at McGill\u2019s Faculty of Law, he also obtained degrees in Communication Studies, Religious Studies, and Globalization from Concordia University.<\/p>\n<p>Jeansil brings a holistic understanding of access to justice for people living with HIV, trans populations, migrants, and the broader 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Jeansil does not shy away from his Filipino-Muslim heritage and status as a gay man of colour in Canada. As a proud Canadian immigrant, he seeks to break down institutional forms of oppression and engage with a society that does not tolerate any form of gender-based, sexual orientation-based, religion-based or ethnoculturally based discrimination.<em> Currently, Jeansil is a Board Member at the Immigration Refugee Board of Canada&#8217;s Refugee Protection Division working as Strategic Operations and Program Manager of the\u00a0Gender-related Task Force (GRTF) and the Task Force for Less Complex Claims (TFLCC), and Chief of Staff for the GRTF-TFLCC Assistant Deputy Chair&#8217;s Office.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"su-expand-link su-expand-link-more\" style=\"text-align:left\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" style=\"color:#0088FF;border-color:#0088FF\"><span style=\"border-color:#0088FF\">View Profile<\/span><\/a><\/div><div class=\"su-expand-link su-expand-link-less\" style=\"text-align:left\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" style=\"color:#0088FF;border-color:#0088FF\"><span style=\"border-color:#0088FF\">Close<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-divider su-divider-style-dotted\" style=\"margin:15px 0;border-width:1px;border-color:#999\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-row\">\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-1-3 board-profile\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<h3>Y.Y. Chen <span class=\"none\">(he\/him)<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-2-3 profile-text\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<div class=\"su-expand su-expand-collapsed su-expand-link-style-default\" data-height=\"1\"><div class=\"su-expand-content su-u-trim\" style=\"color:#333333;max-height:1px;overflow:hidden\">\n<p>Y.Y. Brandon Chen joined the Legal Network\u2019s board of directors in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Y.Y. is a professor at University of Ottawa\u2019s Faculty of Law, Common Law Section. Trained as a lawyer and a social worker, his expertise lies in the areas of public and constitutional law, health law, and immigration and refugee law. His research leverages socio-legal studies and action research to critically examine health inequities facing noncitizens and racialized minorities, including those living with HIV.<\/p>\n<p>Before embarking on a legal career, Y.Y. worked as a research coordinator at the Committee for Accessible AIDS Treatment (CAAT), a coalition of organizations aiming to improve treatment and service access for marginalized people living with HIV. He was formerly a member of the Ontario Advisory Committee on HIV\/AIDS, the co-chair of CAAT, and a board member of Canadian Centre on Statelessness. He currently also sits on the governance committee of the Ontario HIV Treatment Network Cohort Study.<\/p>\n<p>Y.Y. worked at the Legal Network as a summer student while attending law school. He is thrilled to be a part of the Legal Network again.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"su-expand-link su-expand-link-more\" style=\"text-align:left\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" style=\"color:#0088FF;border-color:#0088FF\"><span style=\"border-color:#0088FF\">View Profile<\/span><\/a><\/div><div class=\"su-expand-link su-expand-link-less\" style=\"text-align:left\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" style=\"color:#0088FF;border-color:#0088FF\"><span style=\"border-color:#0088FF\">Close<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-divider su-divider-style-dotted\" style=\"margin:15px 0;border-width:1px;border-color:#999\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-row\">\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-1-3 board-profile\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<h3>Paulette Martin<span class=\"none\"> (she\/her, Secretary)<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-2-3 profile-text\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<div class=\"su-expand su-expand-collapsed su-expand-link-style-default\" data-height=\"1\"><div class=\"su-expand-content su-u-trim\" style=\"color:#333333;max-height:1px;overflow:hidden\">\n<p>Paulette is a Registered Nurse who has worked in the health care system for 38 years and believes that we can do a better job caring for the vulnerable. As a Metis person from northern Saskatchewan, she has witnessed the health disparities with her First Nation cousins and she bring this perspective with her. She has 15\u00a0 years of board experience from local, provincial, and national groups. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Saskatchewan. Paulette has been nursing with the Saskatchewan Health Authority for 38 years in various positions: long term care, home care, Oncology\/Hematology, Public Health Nursing and HIV Strategy Coordinator most current position for eight years.\u00a0 One of her achievements was assisting to establish two rural harm reduction needle exchange sites in Cumberland House village and in the town of Nipawin.\u00a0 Previously clients would have to travel up to 300 kilometers one way to obtain harm reduction supplies.<\/p>\n<p>Paulette is honored to join the board of directors for the HIV Legal Network.\u00a0 She has a passion to bring HIV services to clients as close to home as possible.\u00a0 Having frank discussions with clients as to what they want for support\/services has directed her work.\u00a0 She looks forward to learning and collaborating with other board members to increase her knowledge and skills to support people living with HIV worldwide.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"su-expand-link su-expand-link-more\" style=\"text-align:left\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" style=\"color:#0088FF;border-color:#0088FF\"><span style=\"border-color:#0088FF\">View Profile<\/span><\/a><\/div><div class=\"su-expand-link su-expand-link-less\" style=\"text-align:left\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" style=\"color:#0088FF;border-color:#0088FF\"><span style=\"border-color:#0088FF\">Close<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-divider su-divider-style-dotted\" style=\"margin:15px 0;border-width:1px;border-color:#999\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-row\">\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-1-3 board-profile\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<h3>Thomas Iglesias Trombetta<span class=\"none\"> (he, they)<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-2-3 profile-text\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<div class=\"su-expand su-expand-collapsed su-expand-link-style-default\" data-height=\"1\"><div class=\"su-expand-content su-u-trim\" style=\"color:#333333;max-height:1px;overflow:hidden\">\n<p>Thomas Iglesias Trombetta (they\/he) is an immigrant from Sao Paulo, Brazil, currently living in Treaty 7 territory. Thomas graduated with a double major in Sociology and Global and Development Studies from the University of Alberta and shortly after beginning their career in harm reduction. They have experience as a caseworker at the John Howard Society, HIV educator, and HIV PrEP researcher. Thomas&#8217; focus on 2SLGBTQ+ health equity allowed them to present to multiple audiences about inclusive health practices and systems in Canada.<\/p>\n<p>Today, Thomas works at PurposeMed, the company that created Freddie, Frida, and Foria \u2014 three online services with the goal of increasing access to care for underserved communities. At Freddie and Foria, Thomas leads efforts in relationship building, key partnerships, and community engagement. They were part of the group that began Freddie, the largest PrEP provider in Canada today. Currently, they lead two advisory committees and a community fund, and organize fundraisers.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas is passionate about art and social change through education, having written multiple articles on the intersection between 2SLGBTQ+ equity, HIV, and art. Additionally, they love hosting fundraisers and drag shows in Calgary!<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"su-expand-link su-expand-link-more\" style=\"text-align:left\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" style=\"color:#0088FF;border-color:#0088FF\"><span style=\"border-color:#0088FF\">View Profile<\/span><\/a><\/div><div class=\"su-expand-link su-expand-link-less\" style=\"text-align:left\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" style=\"color:#0088FF;border-color:#0088FF\"><span style=\"border-color:#0088FF\">Close<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-divider su-divider-style-dotted\" style=\"margin:15px 0;border-width:1px;border-color:#999\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-row\">\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-1-3 board-profile\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<h3>Tiffany O\u2019Donnell <span class=\"none\">(she\/her)<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-2-3 profile-text\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<div class=\"su-expand su-expand-collapsed su-expand-link-style-default\" data-height=\"1\"><div class=\"su-expand-content su-u-trim\" style=\"color:#333333;max-height:1px;overflow:hidden\">\n<p>Dr. Tiffany O\u2019Donnell, MD, CCFP, is a family physician in Halifax\/Kjipuktuk, Nova Scotia. She is certified in Addiction Medicine through the International Society of Addiction Medicine, and she currently practices out of the Wije\u2019winen Health Centre and Mobile Outreach Street Health (MOSH) in Halifax. \u00a0A previous board member of the East Coast Prison Justice Society, she has an interest in prison health, and has collaborated with MOSH and other community agencies to develop a throughcare program for people who have been incarcerated. She is also the unit head for Professional Competencies 1 at Dalhousie University Medical School.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"su-expand-link su-expand-link-more\" style=\"text-align:left\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" style=\"color:#0088FF;border-color:#0088FF\"><span style=\"border-color:#0088FF\">View Profile<\/span><\/a><\/div><div class=\"su-expand-link su-expand-link-less\" style=\"text-align:left\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" style=\"color:#0088FF;border-color:#0088FF\"><span style=\"border-color:#0088FF\">Close<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-divider su-divider-style-dotted\" style=\"margin:15px 0;border-width:1px;border-color:#999\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-row\">\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-1-3 board-profile\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<h3>Louis Letellier de St-Just <span class=\"none\">(he\/him)<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-2-3 profile-text\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<div class=\"su-expand su-expand-collapsed su-expand-link-style-default\" data-height=\"1\"><div class=\"su-expand-content su-u-trim\" style=\"color:#333333;max-height:1px;overflow:hidden\">\n<p>Louis Letellier de St-Just is a Canadian attorney (Montreal), legal expert, and educator specializing exclusively in health law since 1983, focusing primarily on the protection of human rights and freedoms, public health issues, and the organization and governance of health and social services. Quickly involved in HIV-AIDS concerns, over the years he has specialized more particularly in issues related to drug policies and aboriginal rights.<\/p>\n<p>He co-founded Cactus Montr\u00e9al in 1989, first needle exchange program in North America and supervised injection site in the province of Quebec (2017). He is currently chairman of its board of directors.<\/p>\n<p>A member of the Quebec Association of addiction workers (AIDQ) board of directors since 2018, he currently serves as its chairman.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Letellier St-Just was part of a legal team that represented an international coalition before the Supreme Court of Canada, including the HIV Legal Network, to defend the relevance of supervised consumption sites as life-saving health services.<\/p>\n<p>As a professor, he created and currently teaches the course <em>Drugs, Public Policy and Legislation<\/em> at Sherbrooke University\u2019s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.<\/p>\n<p>His international experience includes working for the World Health Organisation (WHO), collaboration with Harm Reduction International, the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), as well with several francophone West African countries\u2019 organizations and helped set up the first course in human rights and drug policy.<\/p>\n<p>Regularly invited by Canadian media to comment on drug policy issues and challenges, he has also published articles in specialized publications.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"su-expand-link su-expand-link-more\" style=\"text-align:left\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" style=\"color:#0088FF;border-color:#0088FF\"><span style=\"border-color:#0088FF\">View Profile<\/span><\/a><\/div><div class=\"su-expand-link su-expand-link-less\" style=\"text-align:left\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" style=\"color:#0088FF;border-color:#0088FF\"><span style=\"border-color:#0088FF\">Close<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-divider su-divider-style-dotted\" style=\"margin:15px 0;border-width:1px;border-color:#999\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-row\">\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-1-3 board-profile\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<h3>Natasha Potvin <span class=\"none\">(she\/her)<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-2-3 profile-text\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<div class=\"su-expand su-expand-collapsed su-expand-link-style-default\" data-height=\"1\"><div class=\"su-expand-content su-u-trim\" style=\"color:#333333;max-height:1px;overflow:hidden\">\n<p>Natasha is a longtime activist for sex workers, people who use drugs, and people living with HIV. She works currently as a program Coordinator at Peers Victoria Resources Society. She has been active in the sex worker rights movement for over 15 years, travelling to conferences and meetings to present on her experiences as a woman in sex work and to ensure inclusion whenever policies are being discussed as we move forward. She loves to engage in art and crafting during the times when she is not fighting for equality and transparency for all people!!!<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"su-expand-link su-expand-link-more\" style=\"text-align:left\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" style=\"color:#0088FF;border-color:#0088FF\"><span style=\"border-color:#0088FF\">View Profile<\/span><\/a><\/div><div class=\"su-expand-link su-expand-link-less\" style=\"text-align:left\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" style=\"color:#0088FF;border-color:#0088FF\"><span style=\"border-color:#0088FF\">Close<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-divider su-divider-style-dotted\" style=\"margin:15px 0;border-width:1px;border-color:#999\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-row\">\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-1-3 board-profile\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<h3>Shakir Rahim <span class=\"none\">(he\/him)<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-2-3 profile-text\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<div class=\"su-expand su-expand-collapsed su-expand-link-style-default\" data-height=\"1\"><div class=\"su-expand-content su-u-trim\" style=\"color:#333333;max-height:1px;overflow:hidden\">\n<p>Shakir Rahim is Director of the Criminal Justice program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. He has served on the boards of the Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention (ASAAP), Prisoners with HIV\/AIDS Support Action Network (PASAN), AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT), and HIV\/AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario (HALCO). Shakir is also a member of the Canadian Coalition to Reform HIV Criminalization and past member of the Canadian Bar Association Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Executive. He has worked more broadly with under-served communities at the Community and Legal Aid Services Programme, a legal clinic in the Jane &amp; Finch community, and Fair Change Community Services, which serves persons who are housing insecure.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"su-expand-link su-expand-link-more\" style=\"text-align:left\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" style=\"color:#0088FF;border-color:#0088FF\"><span style=\"border-color:#0088FF\">View Profile<\/span><\/a><\/div><div class=\"su-expand-link su-expand-link-less\" style=\"text-align:left\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" style=\"color:#0088FF;border-color:#0088FF\"><span style=\"border-color:#0088FF\">Close<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-divider su-divider-style-dotted\" style=\"margin:15px 0;border-width:1px;border-color:#999\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-row\">\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-1-3 board-profile\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<h3>Rai Reece <span class=\"none\">(she\/her, Chair)<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-2-3 profile-text\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<div class=\"su-expand su-expand-collapsed su-expand-link-style-default\" data-height=\"1\"><div class=\"su-expand-content su-u-trim\" style=\"color:#333333;max-height:1px;overflow:hidden\">Rai Reece is an assistant professor and interdisciplinary scholar-activist, whose work broadly examines how carceral processes in Canada are connected to colonialism and white supremacy. Her work specifically examines the intersection of punishment\/criminalization and misogynoir (racism that targets Black women\/women-identified folx),\u00a0and white settler capitalism. Much of her work emphasizes and focuses on community-based collaboration, experience,\u00a0and self-reflection. Since 2005 she has been involved with anti-prison work with prisoners and ex-prisoners. She has conducted frontline (one-on-one and group) work with prisoners, street active youth, trans folx,\u00a0and in the domestic violence sector. She has facilitated numerous workshops on anti-Black racism, prison health,\u00a0and equity. Her work also incorporates the importance of examining the connection between abolition and harm reduction through a racial lens. She works from\u00a0a\u00a0place of healing, reflection,\u00a0and decolonization\u00a0as a way to\u00a0deeply reflect on personal, inter-personal,\u00a0and collective care for ourselves and our communities.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"su-expand-link su-expand-link-more\" style=\"text-align:left\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" style=\"color:#0088FF;border-color:#0088FF\"><span style=\"border-color:#0088FF\">View Profile<\/span><\/a><\/div><div class=\"su-expand-link su-expand-link-less\" style=\"text-align:left\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" style=\"color:#0088FF;border-color:#0088FF\"><span style=\"border-color:#0088FF\">Close<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-divider su-divider-style-dotted\" style=\"margin:15px 0;border-width:1px;border-color:#999\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-row\">\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-1-3 board-profile\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<h3>Emily van der Meulen <span class=\"none\">(she\/her)<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-2-3 profile-text\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<div class=\"su-expand su-expand-collapsed su-expand-link-style-default\" data-height=\"1\"><div class=\"su-expand-content su-u-trim\" style=\"color:#333333;max-height:1px;overflow:hidden\">\n<p>Emily van der Meulen joined the Legal Network\u2019s board of directors in 2020. She is a professor in the Department of Criminology at Toronto Metropolitan University, where she conducts participatory research on drug policy, harm reduction, prison health, sex work, and surveillance.<\/p>\n<p>Among her current projects is a study on the ways in which anti-trafficking policy is made and shaped through narratives of white saviourhood and fantasises of \u201crescue,\u201d and another that traces how biometric technologies can reinforce existing embodied inequities, especially with regard to race, gender, and disability.<\/p>\n<p>Emily is a long-time supporter of the Legal Network, and has worked with the organization on research related to prison-based needle and syringe programs and the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act.<\/p>\n<p>She also has over 20 years of experience on various boards of directors, steering committees, and activist groups in the areas of sex work, HIV, prisoner justice, reproductive justice, and more.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: inherit\"> <\/div><div class=\"su-expand-link su-expand-link-more\" style=\"text-align:left\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" style=\"color:#0088FF;border-color:#0088FF\"><span style=\"border-color:#0088FF\">View Profile<\/span><\/a><\/div><div class=\"su-expand-link su-expand-link-less\" style=\"text-align:left\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" style=\"color:#0088FF;border-color:#0088FF\"><span style=\"border-color:#0088FF\">Close<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-divider su-divider-style-dotted\" style=\"margin:15px 0;border-width:1px;border-color:#999\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-row\">\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-1-3 board-profile\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<h3>thom vernon <span class=\"none\">(Co-Vice Chair)<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-2-3 profile-text\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<div class=\"su-expand su-expand-collapsed su-expand-link-style-default\" data-height=\"1\"><div class=\"su-expand-content su-u-trim\" style=\"color:#333333;max-height:1px;overflow:hidden\">\n<p>thom vernon is a multi-media artist, teacher, and scholar. His experience of living with HIV for almost four decades informs his advocacy, which is expressed through his creative and critical writing, his performance, directing, and art practice, and his teaching and facilitating, both academic and community-based. A U.S. migrant to Canada, he is personally familiar with the immigration obstacles faced by people living with HIV. In addition to a long career in theatre\/TV\/film, thom is the author of two novels: <em>The Drifts<\/em> (Coach House 2010) and <em>I Met Death &amp; Sex Through My Friend, Tom Meuley<\/em> (Guernica Editions 2024). He holds a B.A. (<em>summa cum laude<\/em>) in Philosophy (California State University, Los Angeles), a M.F.A. in Creative Writing and a terminal Masters in Gender Studies (University of Southern California), and a Ph.D. in English Literature with a Specialization in Creative Writing (University of New Brunswick). thom is a Vanier Doctoral Scholar, a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) award recipient, a Dr. William S. Lewis Doctoral Fellow, and a Magee Doctoral Fellow. Currently a SSHRC postdoctoral researcher at York University, his creative and critical research transmutes social dynamics of harm (failure, stigma) into sites of agency, capacity-building, and insight.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: inherit\"> <\/div><div class=\"su-expand-link su-expand-link-more\" style=\"text-align:left\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" style=\"color:#0088FF;border-color:#0088FF\"><span style=\"border-color:#0088FF\">View Profile<\/span><\/a><\/div><div class=\"su-expand-link su-expand-link-less\" style=\"text-align:left\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" style=\"color:#0088FF;border-color:#0088FF\"><span style=\"border-color:#0088FF\">Close<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-divider su-divider-style-dotted\" style=\"margin:15px 0;border-width:1px;border-color:#999\"><\/div>\n<p><a name=\"structure\"><\/a><br \/>\n<div class=\"su-divider su-divider-style-default\" style=\"margin:15px 0;border-width:1px;border-color:#ccc\"><\/div>\n<h2>Structure<\/h2>\n<p>The Legal Network has a 12-member board of directors. Two positions are reserved for people living with HIV and AIDS and one position is reserved for a member from each of the five following provincial\/territorial groupings:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Atlantic (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador)<\/li>\n<li>Quebec<\/li>\n<li>Ontario and Nunavut<\/li>\n<li>Prairies (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta) and Northwest Territories<\/li>\n<li>British Columbia and Yukon<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Additionally, efforts are made to recruit board members from populations particularly affected by the HIV pandemic, including people who use drugs and Indigenous people.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2025\u20132026 Board of Directors Structure By-laws (PDF) 2025\u20132026 Board of Directors Structure The Legal Network has a 12-member board of directors. Two positions are reserved for people living with HIV and AIDS and one position is reserved for a member from each of the five following provincial\/territorial groupings: Atlantic (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward &#8230; <a title=\"Meet Our Board\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/our-story\/board-of-directors\/?lang=en\" aria-label=\"More on Meet Our Board\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22718,"parent":7,"menu_order":30,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-18","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18"}],"version-history":[{"count":155,"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25107,"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18\/revisions\/25107"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}