Our commitments to community inclusion and empowerment

Community leadership is and always will be our priority: We understand that the work of community inclusion and empowerment is never “done” and that we will need to continue to prioritize authentic collaboration with community leaders. We do not believe we can be successful in our work without it.

Shared power is our end goal: We aspire for the deepest levels of community engagement: authentic collaboration and empowerment. This means that we will partner with community leaders and residents as decision-makers. We commit to providing resources and support to ensure we achieve this.

We will earn trust: We acknowledge that promises have been made – and many have been unfulfilled – in communities in which we will work. We believe the onus is on our group to act differently and earn trust.

We will be transparent and consistent: One way to earn trust is to communicate transparently and consistently. When we have a plan, we will share it. When we don’t know something, we will say that. We will be consistent with what we share and we will not create different messages for different groups.

We will seek a diversity of perspectives: We know that there is no such thing as “one community voice.” Community leaders and residents will all have their individual perspectives and we will seek to understand those various points of view.