03 | VALUES
We believe that all people want to live in diverse and inclusive communities where their neighbors are thriving. Most people don’t like gentrification yet don’t know what to do about it.
But what if we use principles of cooperative economics and racial equity to pool the capital of long-term residents and new, so our communities can grow wealth together?
Using Liberatory Design principles, we experiment and test approaches in our communities, grounding ourselves in history as healing and instructive. We practice creative courage, reinvigorating our ability to imagine, dream, design, and create equitable futures together.
Do No Harm - We protect the people and the space.
Intention: We aim to move through the space with care, awareness, and respect for people’s bodies, emotions, spirit, social identity, and energetic boundaries. Impact: When we avoid gossip, sarcasm, exclusion, domination, or disruptive energy, we create a space where people feel protected, welcomed, and able to show up fully.
Self-Leadership - We manage our energy.
Intention:We take responsibility for our energy, our reactions, and the way we enter conversations. Impact: When we regulate before engaging, the space stays grounded, clear, and safe for everyone.
One Mic, Full Presence - We listen like it matters.
Intention: We listen fully and give our attention to whoever is speaking. Impact: When every voice is honored without interruption or distraction, trust grows and the collective becomes wiser.
Confidentiality With Intention - Hold stories, share wisdom.
Intention: We hold people’s stories with care and protect personal details shared in vulnerability. Impact: When confidentiality is respected, people feel safe enough to share truthfully and the whole group benefits from deeper wisdom.
Accountability With Dignity - Repair with courage.
Intention: We approach harm with honesty, responsibility, and a commitment to repair rather than shame or defensiveness. Impact: Harm will happen but when addressed with clarity and care, relationships strengthen instead of fracture, and the community becomes more resilient.
Emotional Honesty - feelings are data.
Intention: We name feelings clearly, without attacking, withdrawing, or weaponizing emotion. Impact: When feelings are treated as information rather than ammunition, communication becomes cleaner and conflict becomes workable.
Multiple Truths. Complexity is welcome.
Intention:We honor nuance, complexity, and the reality that people experience the same moment differently. Impact: When we resist binary thinking and stay curious, the community can hold more perspectives without forcing agreement or erasing difference.
Transform Conflict - face it, don’t feed it.
Intention: We bring issues directly to the right people and address conflict with courage, compassion, and clarity. Impact: When we avoid gossip and face tension constructively, conflict becomes generative - strengthening the group rather than dividing it.
Care for the Space - tend the environment.
Intention: We treat the physical and energetic environment as a living member of the community. Impact: When the space is tended with respect, people feel grounded, welcome, and supported in the work we are here to do.
Creativity & Experimentation – We make room for imagination.
Intention: We embrace curiosity, play, and experimentation as essential parts of our work. We try things, test ideas, and follow sparks of inspiration without fear of being wrong. Creative risk-taking is welcomed and supported. Impact: When people feel free to imagine, prototype, remix, and explore, the community becomes more innovative, more joyful, and more capable of building the future we’re here to design together.
