Scott is motivated by a deep desire to make transformative change in the lives of people with HIV, mental illness, addiction, poverty and complex medical needs. Scott joined the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation as Executive Director in 2017 and brings 30+ years in the non-profit sector. He has served as Chief Executive Officer of imagine1day and has held leadership roles with the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Vancouver Aquarium, Philanthropic Solutions Inc., Arts Umbrella, Canada World Youth and the BC Persons with AIDS Society.
The Dr. Peter Centre opened in 1997 with a mandate to provide programs for individuals with HIV and additional complex health and social issues (e.g., mental health issues, substance use, homelessness, etc.). These programs include: a 24-hour Residence with Specialized Nursing Care, a Day Health Program, Canada’s first supervised injection site and an Enhanced Supportive Housing program. Over the past 5 years our Knowledge Translation program has become recognized as a leader in using frontline experience in STBBI and harm reduction to provide capacity building for hundreds of agencies across Canada. Scott is committed to leveraging partnerships with policy-makers, philanthropists, and corporations to position the Dr. Peter Centre to make an even greater contribution to British Columbia’s HIV treatment and harm reduction efforts.
The in-person gatherings of the Roots to Thrive program take place of the ancestral and unceded territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation at the Snuneymuxw Community Wellness Center, and also on the homelands of the Coast Salish, Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw and Nuučaan̓ułʔatḥ (Nuu-chah-nulth) Peoples.
Integral to Roots to Thrive’s approach to healing, re-connection and remembering who we are, are these Guiding Principles. By embodying these principles we intend to honour and give thanks to the Snuneymuxw and all First Nations, the teachings they carry and lands they steward, and to join in working for Truth and Reconciliation.