POLICY AND POSITION STATEMENTS

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI):

Guided by our mission,  and ongoing dialogue with and feedback from our membership and partners, TAVA  aims to promote  and support opportunities and conversations that further advance diversity, equity and inclusion - and the dismantling of systemic inequities  faced by the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) communities, the 2SLGBTQ+ communities, and other marginalized and minoritized communities.  Click here to learn about our DEI Working Group.

Event Registration Participation Agreement: 

TAVA (i.e. the event host and or organization/owner of the digital property that facilitates registrations) is committed to fostering an event space where everyone is welcome to show-up and peacefully enjoy and engage in our events without fear of harassment. By registering for any of our events, you are certifying/ attesting that you have read, understand, and agree with our following event registration participant agreement:

Harassment or perceived harassment of individuals/members/presenters/organizations participating in TAVA event spaces (online and offline) will not be tolerated. With this in mind, TAVA also reserves the right to remove participants from a TAVA event (with registration fees refunded) if such harassment or perceived harassment occurs. Examples of harassment or perceived harassment can include - but is not limited to - the following (for event participant safety, TAVA reserves the right to interpret and expand on these):

• Derailing event subject areas or learning focus to communicate a personal agenda or grievances
• Gaslighting: Making absolute judgements about the presenter/ host/ organizations/ individuals; Redirecting commentary on behaviour into an attack on presenters/ hosts/ organizations/ individuals; Framing questions/comments in a way to direct blame
• Complaints from multiple participants

'ONE' Part Of The Solution:

AVA's (Associations for Volunteer Administration)* have long supported those who engage volunteers. And, TAVA is one AVA that supports volunteer engagement professionals in the GTA and surrounding area. For over 40 years now, as a 100% volunteer member led association, TAVA has observed many changes in the voluntary sector and society, and our mission statement has steadily remained focused on four areas, to meet those changes head on: educational events, networking, mutual support and raising awareness. And, recognizing that TAVA is also only 'ONE' part of the solution, in supporting our sector, we  are committed to promoting the work of others pushing for positive systemic and social impact in our society and sector - including other AVA's, as well as other local, provincial, national and global bodies helping those who engage volunteers. *Note: Visit PAVRO's website for a listing of the AVA Liaison Network.

NOTE: Thanks to Ruth Pentinga for sharing this image of an old quilted TAVA blanket. If you look close you will notice that the blanket is comprised of the logos of TAVA member agencies, from 2001. 

Land Acknowledgement:

We wish to acknowledge our gratitude for those who have cared for the land, waterways, plants, animals and insects where we are situated.  T’karonto, which means the place in the water where the trees are standing. 

This place has known human activity for more than 15,000 years. We acknowledge the ancestral lands of the Dish with One Spoon Territory and more recently Treaty 13. We acknowledge the ancestral lands of the  Mississaugas of the Credit who are part of the Anishinaabe nation, the Wendat Nation, also the Haudenosaunee Confederacy of Six Nations and any other nation recorded or unrecorded. 

Today, Toronto is home to many Indigenous groups and many diverse nations. Living on this territory makes us all Treaty People. 

We encourage all TAVA Members to research the traditional lands on which you’re situated. Native-land.ca is a great starting resource for this. Keep learning and expanding your understanding. 

We all share a collective responsibility for how we will work and play together as we use the land and waterways.  

“We live because everything else does.” Richard Wagamese, 1955-2017, Embers, One Ojibway’s Meditations

Website and Privacy Policy:

The nature of the Internet is such that it passively and automatically collects certain information about a user's traffic patterns, linked to their Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. These are unique Internet "addresses" assigned to all web users by their Internet Service Providers (ISP). IP addresses are automatically logged by web servers.

Our website is hosted on servers owned and managed by a third-party, Wild Apricot. Any personal information collected on our behalf by Wild Apricot is managed in accordance with their privacy policy, and is protected by applicable law. You can read their privacy policy by visiting www.wildapricot.com/privacypolicy. 

When ordering or registering on our site, as appropriate, you may be asked to enter personal information required for membership and/or event registration. You may, however, visit our site anonymously.

TAVA members who log on to the "Member Only" pages of the website using their member log on name and password may have their visits tracked in our member database for statistical purposes.

All information necessary to conduct financial transactions are dealt with by the web service, Paypal, including, but not limited to: credit card information, name, address or phone number. We do not collect or view any personal financial information. You can read PayPal's privacy policy by visiting www.paypal.com/ca/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full.

We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties your personally identifiable information. This does not include trusted third parties who assist us in operating our website, conducting our business, or servicing you, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential. We may also release your information when we believe release is appropriate to comply with the law, enforce our site policies, or protect ours or others rights, property, or safety. However, non-personally identifiable visitor information may be provided to other parties for marketing, advertising, or other uses through the use of Wild Apricot's services and Google Analytics. Google Analytics is a service provided by Google for the purposes of understanding how many visitors come to this website, what pages they navigate to, for how long, etc. This information is made available through the use of 'cookies'--which you may restrict through your individual browser. You can read Google Analytics' privacy policy by visiting www.google.com/analytics/terms/us.html.

This online privacy policy applies only to information collected through our website and not to information collected offline.

By using this site, you consent to our website privacy policy.

If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes on this page.

If you have any questions regarding any of our position and or policy statements you may contact our TAVA Executive Committee at: tavaexec [at] gmail [dot] com