Vision, Mission, Principles

Vision: Building Belonging

We are committed to building a world that honors this simple truth: everyone—and every natural thing—belongs.

Mission: Transforming systems and culture

We strengthen movements that build belonging, by convening liberatory leaders to transform systems and culture.

Learn about our approach to this mission.

Guiding Principles

All of our work is grounded in these six design principles. These principles are an expression of our values. We believe any effort—big or small—that follows these principles will bring us closer to the future we long for.

1. Belonging: build for the 100%. We believe humanity can create an “us” without a “them”—an “us” that affirms all life, including non-human life. Othering, oppositionality, coercion, domination, and oppression are incompatible with belonging.

2. Nonviolence. We are committed to the practice of nonviolence, which we understand as not simply the absence of violence, but about taking a proactive stand against violence and injustice, and working to repair the harm.

3. Create from a vision for the future. It is not enough to oppose or resist the status quo; we must also create—toward a goal. We anchor in a vision for the liberated future we long for, and practice that vision together in the present.

4. Design from diversity. Just as diverse ecosystems are more generative and resilient, so too are diverse networks and initiatives. In our activities, we curate diversity—across ability, age, ethnicity, gender, geography, race, sexuality, sector, etc.—to benefit from multiple perspectives and lived experiences.

5. I/We/World: transform at every scale. We recognize that individual (I), interpersonal (We), and structural (World) transformation are interdependent. Change at all levels is essential: I/We interventions alone are not enough. Nor are World-only interventions. Our initiatives, even if focused at one level, have an explicit intention for how they affect transformation across levels.

6. Embodiment: change happens in the body. We integrate multiple ways of knowing, doing, and being. Our initiatives incorporate some form of somatics or bodywork: both to ground our gatherings and to seek the wisdom of the body and other non-cognitive ways of knowing.