Written by Katie Carter, Pride Foundation CEO
Whenever I’m faced with a hard decision or a question that seems to have both endless answers and no right answer, Jeanette Winterson’s words, “What you risk reveals what you value” from Written on the Body echo in my head, urging me to dig deeper into what is really at the heart of it.
Every time, when I hold my values at the center, those decisions and answers show themselves to be crystal clear. Admittedly it doesn’t always make the next steps any easier, but I know I can move with the confidence that my whole heart is guiding me.
In the coming months, we—individually, organizationally, and collectively, are going to be confronted with decisions and actions that will reveal our values to ourselves, our community, and our world.
At Pride Foundation, our values are the compass guiding our work and relationships, shaping how we show up for our grantees, partners, supporters, community, and each other. Our values are not just ideals, they are wholehearted commitments to how we will navigate challenges, triumphs, and hold ourselves accountable to the communities we serve.
We wanted to make sure our organizational values reflected who we are and how we want to show up for this work and for our community—especially during a time when we know much could take us away from our vision for a world in which all LGBTQ+ people live safely and openly, as our whole selves, in all the places we call home.
We wrote them together because we wanted to make sure they were crystal clear for our whole team and infused in every part of our work and our organization. And we wanted to make sure that they had teeth, that they could be our tangible, guiding force to support us on our path toward collective liberation.
These values are our promise to you, our community, for how we will show up and fight for every single one of us.
Hope and Joy
We center hope and joy in our work in moments of both triumph and hardship because it is essential to our fortitude.
We live this by celebrating the abundance of our community and affirming our vision of the future where everyone thrives in the places they call home.
Justice and Collective Liberation
We are rooted in justice and collective liberation because our lives, struggles, and movements are fundamentally interconnected.
We live this by actively working to dismantle the systems of racial capitalism, settler colonialism, and gender-based violence that oppress our communities, and by centering the voices most harmed by these systems.
Integrity and Trust
We lead with integrity and trust because, fundamentally, we are responsible to and have faith in our community.
We live this by creating authentic partnerships based in mutuality and respect, engaging in thoughtful stewardship of the resources entrusted with us, and being accountable to the breadth of communities we serve.
Regeneration and Sustainability
We prioritize regeneration and sustainability because our work must be rooted in the wisdom of those who came before us and focused on sustaining our communities into thriving futures.
We live this by developing holistic organizational practices rooted in well-being, generational thinking, and our legacy of community care.
Growth and Courage
We strive for growth and practice courage because the circumstances of the world and needs of our communities are constantly evolving and require us to learn and innovate alongside this change.
We live this by cultivating a culture of learning that enables us to take bold and strategic risks that help us better support our communities.