Living our values: A new strategic plan for San Francisco AIDS Foundation

The new mission, vision and values of San Francisco AIDS Foundation set priorities for the coming years and give us a roadmap to create real and lasting change.
September 8, 2019   2 Minute Read
A New Strategic Plan

More than a year ago, a committee at our foundation embarked on a process to craft a bold plan for the future of our organization. Our strategic plan, for the years 2019 – 2024, explicitly states the mission, vision and values of San Francisco AIDS Foundation, sets priorities for the coming years, and gives us a roadmap for the path forward.

Over the course of an entire year, we invested ample time and resources in developing the plan. Guided by a consulting firm, we engaged the community, staff, partner organizations, community advisory boards and other stakeholders during the plan’s development, and solicited input and feedback at every step of the process.

A Bold Vision for the Future

Our vision is to reach a future where health justice is achieved for all people living with HIV or at risk for HIV. Ultimately, we strive for a day when race is not a barrier to health and wellness, substance use is not stigmatized, HIV status does not determine the quality of life and HIV transmission is eliminated.

What is health justice? We define it as when all people have the power and resources to make decisions about their bodies and health—regardless of identities and experiences.

Health justice may be a new concept for many people—and it is certainly a new way to frame the work of our organization. Ultimately, we want to free people from the oppressions that create health inequities. When we say “inequity,” what we mean is injustice. We’re pushing the envelope in new ways by centering our vision around the aspirational goal of health justice.

Our Mission

Our mission statement defines how we do the work. Our mission is to promote health, wellness and social justice for communities most impacted by HIV through sexual health and substance use services, advocacy and community partnerships.

Building off of a 37-year legacy, our work to end the AIDS epidemic will continue. A slightly new perspective we’ll take in the coming years is to address all sexual health and substance use disparities for people who are either living with HIV or at risk for HIV. We want to ensure that our community has access to the resources, services, information and support we need to maintain our sexual health and solve problems related to substance use.

Read the Entire Strategic Plan

Want to find out more? Get more info about our priorities in the years ahead by reading the full plan.

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Our Values

The values of our organization help shape our approach—in other words, how we set out to achieve our vision and goals. They are the guideposts we will use to show up for the communities we serve.

In the coming years, we will be guided by the values of justice, dignity, courage, leadership and excellence.

A Commitment to Racial Justice

In our new strategic plan, we’re making it clear that we’re committed to racial justice and centering people of color in our work. Being committed to racial justice means interrupting oppression and proactively reinforcing policies, practices, attitudes and actions that lead to equitable power, access, opportunities, treatment and health outcomes for everyone.

We know that racial disparities—the result of institutional and structural oppressions—are present in HIV incidence and prevalence rates, access to health care and more. That’s why racial justice shows up across all parts of our plan: We are taking steps to create safe spaces for clients of color, retain more staff of color and create a racially just workplace.

These are not simply words on paper. We are committed to doing the difficult work within our organization to transform our relationships to people of color—including our clients and staff

A History of Impact. A Future of Justice.

Hear from community members on how we can achieve health justice for all.

Our Strategic Priorities

To advance our vision and mission, our organization will focus on four main priorities:

  1. Maintain, expand and pilot HIV, hepatitis C, and STI prevention and treatment, and other sexual health services to ensure equitable access and use by people of color
  2. Maintain and expand substance use services syringe access and overdose prevention efforts including establishing safer injection sites
  3. In partnership, create a comprehensive network of health and wellness services for people over age 50 who are living with HIV
  4. Strengthen organizational excellence with a focus on living our values, including a commitment to racial justice.

Our work in the years ahead will not be easy, but we are confident that with a shared mission, vision and values, or organization and supporters can unite to create lasting change in our community.

Support this Work

We believe in a world where HIV is not inevitable, health justice is the norm, and communities are stronger when we care for each other. If you share our vision, please declare your support for the plan by donating today.

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