Who We Are
We believe everyone has a basic human right to live free of sexual and intimate partner violence. Advocacy, education, prevention, and public policy are powerful tools we are using to enact change in our community.
Our Vision
Create a safe, thriving, and equitable community.
Our Mission
Empower those impacted by sexual and intimate partner violence through innovative advocacy, healing, and prevention programs.
Our Guiding Principles:
- People have a basic human right to live free of sexual and intimate partner violence.
- Sexual and intimate partner violence is preventable.
- Everyone has a role and responsibility in doing this work.
- Sexual and intimate partner violence exists within a system of oppression.
- Advocacy, education, prevention, and public policy are the keys to social change.
- Collaboration and alliance building are essential to successful anti-violence work.
- Diversity and safe, accessible services are fundamental to creating social change and ending sexual and intimate partner violence.
- The voices of survivors drive our work; we empower them to make choices for themselves while providing compassionate services, dignity, privacy, and respect.
- Everyone has a role in sustaining our work through a culture of abundance and generosity, by bringing together ample resources and action for the public good.
Our Core Values:
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- Put People First: We recognize and value the whole person and their unique experiences. We treat every individual with respect, dignity, and kindness.
- Honor Self-Care: We honor the needs of each individual. We respect healthy boundaries, encourage laughter and play, and foster growth and development in order to thrive.
- Act with Integrity: We act with honesty, transparency, courtesy, and fairness in all that we do in order to foster collaboration, trust, and sustainability.
- Seek Understanding: We approach people, ideas, and situations with an open heart and an open mind. We pursue growth and connection while acknowledging our impact.
- Communicate with Courage: We speak intentionally and with authenticity. We establish shared expectations and deliver on our word. We hold one another accountable.
- Foster Learning Culture: We learn from and share our mistakes. We create space for learning, evolving, and challenging the status quo through open communication and collaborative decision-making.
- Empower One Another: We empower the people we serve, our community partners, each other, and ourselves to reach our fullest potential.
Our Commitment to Advancing Racial Justice, Social Justice & Equity:
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We believe:
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are essential to creating a safe, thriving, and equitable community.
- All forms of violence are connected and sexual and intimate partner violence occur within the larger context of societal inequities.
- All forms of oppression are connected. The sexism, homophobia, and transphobia that fuel power-based violence are interwoven with racism, xenophobia, ableism, and other types of oppression that devalue the lives of entire groups of people.
- When we fail to recognize each other’s full humanity – whether individually or by painting whole groups as “other” – we contribute to dehumanization and pave the way for violence.
- When we seek to understand those who are different from us, we create a world where violence is neither celebrated nor tolerated.
- Ending all forms of sexual and intimate partner violence.
- Ensuring our DEI efforts drive innovation in order to empower each other and those we serve.
- Creating a culture where discrimination is not tolerated in any form.
- Dismantling inequities in our policies, programs and services.
- Advancing DEI by participating individually and as an organization in changing the status quo.
- Pledging to stand with and advocate for all who seek racial justice, social justice, and liberation from violence and oppression.
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We are committed to: