Love
Love creates more capacity to care and grow and be stretched/extended. Love allows us to be courageous and beautiful, and to not fear discomfort. We commit to spreading love at every opportunity.
Collectivism
We value what each individual brings to the space at all times. We believe in a collective effort, understanding in order to go far we must work and build with others.
Equity
We understand we must go further than ‘equality’, ‘diversity’, and ‘inclusion’ and instead take a systemic and Intersectional approach, which ensures we recognise that we do not all start from the same place. We will take necessary action to address systemic barriers in our work.
Curiosity
We are open to possibilities and actively explore the unknown. We test new approaches to systems and organising. This is sometimes painful but we recognise it’s where the growth is.
Reciprocity
We nurture reciprocal relationships, with a balanced value exchange that benefits all. We celebrate our interdependence with each other and the world around us, and our mutual responsibility to support one another to create a thriving system.
How we try to live these values
We:
- Recruit according to values and behaviours, not just skills and experience.
- Regularly ask if an action aligns with our values and celebrate shared examples of ‘values in action’.
- Hold a set of shared behaviours relating to each value, including non-desirable behaviours.
- Hold ourselves and others accountable when values are not being evidenced (or actively ignored).
- Encourage our partners and the network to consider establishing values and supporting this work.
- Align our work to our values — for example if there is an opportunity presented for a new project, does it really fit?
- Assess how much suppliers and partners fit with our values.
We think values are important in setting the tone for a shared culture. Read Jo Morfee's weeknote on the process of establishing values.
