Frequently Asked Questions

I’m an Indigenous youth under 30 who feels JAZZED about sexual health and reproductive rights and justice! How can I get involved!?

We are SO excited about you and the work you will do! If you'd like to work with us, please email us at: info@nativeyouthsexualhealth.com. Here are some ways to get involved:

  • Becoming a youth leader (you probably are already and we want to know how to grow or support that!)

  • Joining one of our Youth Councils / regional teams (we’ll hook you up with folks in your area)

  • Working as a peer educator and/or mentor

  • Training as a workshop facilitator

  • Being involved with our advocacy, outreach, or community based research

  • Volunteering and internships (we are not usually a fan of ‘free labor’, but we also know that giving of ourselves and time is an honoured tradition in many of our communities, and sometimes a core component of learning)

  • Join our core team: NYSHN is led by and for Indigenous youth under the age of 30

How did the Native Youth Sexual Health Network get started?

The Native Youth Sexual Health Network began in 2008, when a group of Indigenous youth saw a need for by-us, for-us sexual and reproductive health education. Since that time, NYSHN has grown into a grassroots network of Indigenous youth leaders across Turtle Island, working to respond to the sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice needs of our communities.

We are a culmination and combination of many layers and years of learning, growth, change and relationships! What we do is always reflective of who’s involved currently or their legacies.

A few generations of core leadership have decided (a couple times) to NOT be a not-for-profit or charity as this way of organizing has historically undermined political movements and community organizing.

I need to contact your Executive Director, where can I find their contact information?

We don’t have an Executive Director! NYSHN has a core team of youth leaders and organizers and Aunties/Mentors who help tend the admin section of our work, as well as groups of youth leaders and organizers across Turtle Island who are responsible for their own projects, priorities, and initiatives. We aim to have a structure that is as horizontal, non-hierarchical, consensus-based, and collaborative as possible. For more on NYSHN’s organizing structure, check out this page!

To learn more about NYSHN, please read this faq in full!

  • For workshop/keynote/outreach requests, please fill out this form

  • For general NYSHN inquiries, reach out to info@nativeyouthsexualhealth.com

  • Slide into our DMs but please be respectful of our time and cross platform messaging (it’s the same small crew of tired humans answering on each!)

I want to partner with NYSHN on a research project, or grant proposal. Who do I talk to?

Relationality is at the core of our work -- we believe in the importance of building trusting relationships before embarking on projects and partnership (which takes time!). We think that good relationality is especially important for research, which has been used as a tool of colonialism in many of our communities.

As a grassroots network of Indigenous youth, we do not have the resources to take every request that we receive, and we centre good relationality at the core of our decision making process in consenting to outreach requests.

What this looks like:

  • For non-Indigenous researchers or organizations: if we don’t have an existing relationship with your organization (either directly, or through community relationships), we likely won’t be able to partner with you on that project/research study/grant proposal.

  • If you are an Indigenous researcher or organization -- drop us a line with as much relevant info as possible so we can decide if we are the right fit.

  • And if you’re an Indigenous youth looking to get involved with the network, or if you’d like support doing a project in your community, email info@nativeyouthsexualhealth.com, or slide into our DMs any time!

Our protocols about relationality and consensus governance apply to all areas of our work, and mean that we probably can’t accommodate that last minute co-sign on a project, resource, or consultation. Think about reaching out to us instead for some long term partnerships based in reciprocity!

Who funds NYSHN?

Funds come primarily through donations, grants we apply to (or are supported to apply for), partnerships, and pay from individual contracts, workshops, consultations and other work we do in community!

NYSHN receives no ‘core’ funding. You read that correctly! Core funding is “financial support that covers the basic “core” organizational and administrative costs of an NGO, including salaries of non-project staff, rent, equipment, utilities, and communications.” We are not a corporation, registered non-profit, or charity.

We do not and have never accepted funding from resource extraction industries (including funding from banks and companies that invest in resource extraction) as this is not in line with our values, and we resist all forms of environmental violence.

As an organization, we prioritize paying youth leaders an hourly or per-project wage as well as covering transportation, shelter, food stipends, and incidentals upfront.


Do you have an office?

We do not! Please get in touch ASAP if you would like to give us land back for an office. We do not have a singular physical location nor do we have a centralized phone line. As a network, we’re composed of soooo many aunties, youth leaders, and relatives hustling on our ancestral lands and guesting on each other’s territories. NYSHN work literally happens from urban basement apartments, long car rides to/from the rez, bush cabins with no internet or cell service, medicine gardens, high school gyms, and kitchen tables everywhere. Wherever there are relatives making reproductive justice in our communities, NYSHN’s home fires are burning ;)

Our mailing address is a PO Box:

Native Youth Sexual Health Network
PO Box 253
Station Main
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada
T5J 2J1

I’m running a fundraiser and I want to donate the money to NYSHN. How can I do this?

Please contact us asking for our consent to fundraise BEFORE you publicize our involvement. When we receive your request, here is a few things we consider:

  • Existing partnerships or relationships

  • Core values (ours, yours and all relevant context)

  • Internal capacity to manage any media or additional tasks

If the activity or fundraiser doesn't line up with our values, we’ll usually recommend a smaller community or another grassroots organization that we think would align better.

I’m Indigenous but over 30, are there ways I can be involved?

Yes! Our circle of aunties and mentors helps to support youth leaders in all sorts of capacities -- whether you want to help with grant writing, drive some of us to an out-of-town workshop, or leverage jobs, positions, or roles to support Indigenous youth, we would love to build a relationship with you! Fill out this form and we will get in touch with you.

I’m non-Indigenous and want to support your work. What can I do?

Donate! Donate! Donate! Financial resources that are not attached to specific outcomes or external goals are very important for our freedom to be flexible and respond to community need. If you can’t afford to directly donate now? Tell other people to! Share funding opportunities you are connected to or you know are low barrier and accessible

We appreciate when folks are transparent about why you’re reaching out or want to support. For instance, who do you know at NYSHN? What’s your experience working with Indigenous communities? Why us?

Finally, we really appreciate the background support labour like vehicle access for supply runs, workshop transportation, food preparation or donations for events, venue links as well as setup and take down support. Check out this resource for more ways to connect!

I’m a student, can I do a placement with the Native Youth Sexual Health Network?

We do not accept non-Indigenous placement students, and truthfully, we rarely have the capacity to support Indigenous placement students in mainstream post-secondary institutions. Since we do not have a physical office, any full-time or salaried admin staff, and we work with limited time and resources, we often don’t meet the requirements for taking on placement students. Consider who your faculty or staff are, if they have an existing relationship with us and what supports are already in place. That being said, if you are an Indigenous student and looking to work with us, reach out and we will see what we can do!

I filled in your workshop request form, sent you 12 emails, tried emailing a youth leader and still didn’t hear back. What’s up?

We are busy! We love clear and direct communication, but as we work above our capacities we've gotta prioritize communicating with the requests which both presently align with our values, and that we have the capacity to fill. If you haven’t heard back from us after alllllllll of that communication, we likely are unable to coordinate your request at this time. You can try again in a few months, or seek our relatives page to try and find another organization in our network suited to your request. 

No one is entitled to anyone else’s time - especially Indigenous people and youth. We receive upwards of 500 requests a year, and need to manage our time well to follow through on the requests we DO accept. If we believe that your question could have been reasonably answered by google, or by deepening your relationality to local Indigenous community, we probably will not reply! Also we are human and make mistakes sometimes.

Our understanding of sex work & language around human trafficking according to us:

At NYSHN, we fully believe in every person’s inherent right to make decisions about their body, their life and the lives of their families. We love and support sex workers and people involved in the sex trade, sex industry and other street economies. We also recognize that not everyone sees themselves as a “sex worker” and respect everyone’s right to self-determine what they do and how they communicate their experience.

Sex work does not automatically equal human trafficking. Colonial and state violence such as the child welfare system and not having access to safe housing and basic needs very often push people into the “margins”. We also recognize the historic and continued role of state-sponsored systems and agencies that are supposed to “protect”  that actually result in the definition of trafficking.

The Anti-Trafficking Movement is largely composed of right-wing, Christian, pro-police individuals and organizations that are not interested in hearing directly from impacted communities about what would actually increase their safety or well-being. We believe that further criminalization of our bodies and spaces undermines Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination under the guise of ‘safety’ - colonial law has never protected us and will never be the full answer to restoring our bodily autonomy. 

Do you have a question that isn’t answered here? Contact us!