Democracy for All, Health for All, Equality for All
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Mission, Vision, Values
Our Mission
The mission of the Foundation for Change is to create a passionate community of support for progressive leaders and organizations in the San Diego/Tijuana region.
Our Vision
We envision ours as a bi-national region known worldwide for its economic equality, environmental sustainability and social justice. We envision a “bi-national garden” of community-based organizations working to promote “social justice for all / justicia y dignidad para tod@s.” We envision the Foundation for Change as the “go-to” foundation for progressive philanthropists and innovative leaders committed to “making change happen” on both sides of the border.
The Foundation for Change embraces progressive values like Justice, Inclusivity and Compañerismo and combines these with values characteristic of best practices in philanthropy.
- Justice. We treat all people equally and with respect, dignity and compassion both internally (board, staff, committees, grantees, donors) and externally in our larger community. Our vision of justice is one in which everyone has an equal part in creating a democratic society. In this society all enjoy access to inalienable healthcare, education, food, water, shelter, the ability to celebrate one’s own language and culture, an equal voice at the table, and self-determination of who they are. All members of our community have a right to interactions that are free from violence and abuses of power. We are committed to justice and dignity for all humanity.
- Inclusivity. We practice valuing each other within and outside of our organization. We constitute ourselves (board, committee, staff, and grantees) to reflect accurately the communities that we serve. We ensure full participation by sharing power and by using consensus models of conducting business. We practice an on-going process of self-reflection with the intent of cultural democracy (eg., practicing cultural democracy by hearing the other person from their cultural/historical perspective).
- Compañerismo. We are deeply committed to those experiencing injustices in our community. We walk arm in arm with them toward justice. We are in this struggle together for the long haul.
- Honesty. We communicate openly, authentically and with integrity and compassion in our written and spoken communications within the organization and with our community and stakeholders. We practice being true to our word, la palabra.
- Trustworthiness. We are worthy of trust by all aspects of our community by following through with our word in our internal as well as external actions. This allows for safety in relationships, internal and external. Grantees can count on the money we commit to them. Grantees can count on us to stand up for their work and their communities in all venues.
- Consistency. As honest and trustworthy members of the community we are consistent and reliable in our public persona and communications with our grantees, donors and the San Diego/Tijuana community.
- Strategic and thoughtful focus. We value regular, thoughtful and strategic planning. This ensures the development of an organizational infrastructure that provides us the resources that allow us to responsibly accomplish our mission and attain our vision. In practicing this we enhance our capacity to grow and get grants, increase our legitimacy, and provide grants and support resources to assist grantees with their success.
- Accountability. We hold ourselves, as individuals and as stakeholders in the Foundation for Change, accountable for the promises and claims we make and to our mission and vision.
- Expertise. We value, seek and utilize information from researchers, experts, subject professionals and practitioners as a basis for our decision-making; this includes our grassroots grantees. Through our grant-making, nurturing and relationship-building with San Diego/Tijuana grassroots grantees, the Foundation becomes knowledgeable about the San Diego/Tijuana community, and as such, is able to act as a resource to the larger community.
© 2012 Created by Foundation for Change.
