Foundational Principles

The foundational principles guiding the Institute for Community Leadership are based on the fundamental belief that all resources and systems should serve to enhance and strengthen healthier communities. These principles include:

Economics
Financial and related resource decisions are guided by a vision toward a just and sustainable society.

Generativity
Communities transfer shaped wisdom, creating a legacy and inheritance for future generations.

Public Trust
Public, private, and not-to-profit sectors share individual social responsibilities,

Women
The spirit and power of women's voices are equally valued.

Common Good
To be fully alive is to work for the common good.

Empowerment
Knowledge that enables people to claim their own power based on their own experiences.

Interdependence
The fabric of community is woven by the interaction of its systems and human networks.

Inclusiveness
Reach beyond diversity to ensure the concerns of all stakeholders are equally valued.

Innovation
Create new approaches to ,think solutions to existing and emerging problems.

Capacity Building
Broaden and deepen individual and institutional abilities and willingness to serve others.

Justice
Actively address systemic issues that create oppression and inequality.

Community
All resources and systems are interwoven to enhance and strengthen communities and promote healthier living environments

Integration
Heal existing fragmentation and polarization in communities.

Capital
Market, public, social, and spiritual resources are the basic building blocks of community renewal.

Added Value
Advance the common good beyond the mandates and traditionally expected results.

Renewal
Embrace and utilize the multi-racial, multi-linguistic, multi-cultural, multi-class, and gender-equal strengths of the community to advance the common good.