Our Vision and Role

What is our vision?

All Children and Youth Thrive!

At OKN, we have three important values that guide everything we do: working together, building evidence, and creating accountability. These values are the backbone of our approach and help us work towards our vision “All Children and Youth Thrive”.

Working together means that we believe in collaboration and teamwork. We know that we can accomplish more when we work together with others who share our vision. By pooling our resources and expertise, we can make a bigger impact and create better outcomes for children and youth.

Building evidence means that we believe in using data and research to guide our decisions and actions. We collect information and analyze it to better understand the needs of children and youth, and to determine the most effective ways to help them thrive. By using evidence-based approaches, we can make sure that our efforts are making a real difference.

Creating accountability means that we believe in taking responsibility for our actions and measuring our progress. We set clear goals and objectives, and regularly evaluate our performance to make sure that we are on track. By holding ourselves accountable, we can ensure that we are constantly improving and making the most of our resources.

Overall, these values are critical to OKN’s mission of ensuring that all children and youth thrive. By working together, building evidence, and creating accountability, we are making a real difference in the lives of young people and creating a brighter future for us all.

Cheerful parents having fun while tickling their two kids on sofa in the living room.

Who do we serve?

Our main focus is on Halton professionals who work with children, youth, and families in various areas such as child welfare, education, libraries, government, health, mental health, special needs, recreation services, and the multicultural community.

A young adult lesbian couple in their 20's are walking and smiling while draped in a pride flag

What is our impact?

Our Kids Network is a collective of organizations working together to make sure that Halton kids have the support they need to do well. We share research, information, and resources to support professionals in their work with children, youth, and families. Our main goals are to:

    • Work together to make sure that young people have what they need to be successful at every stage of their lives.
    • Raise awareness about the needs of kids and families in Halton.
    • Help create communities where young people feel supported and encouraged.
Candid photograph of a diverse group of mature students working together on a class project in their college library.  The students are sitting around a table in their college library concentrating hard while looking down at their project work on the desk in front of them.

What we do

The strategic objectives of Our Kids Network are:

    • Conduct and share research that guides the network in planning and action.
    • Promote and help sustain relationships among organizations.
    • Develop resources to help partners achieve their outcomes.
    • Provide knowledge translation that educates and informs partners in their work leading to action and measurement of progress.