Our Mission & Values
Seek Common Ground (SCG) provides statewide and community-facing organizations with resources, knowledge, and partnership to bring about the sustainable change that matters most to them and the people they serve. Authentic community engagement does not occur automatically. It requires time, intentionality, and investment in positioning organizations and leaders to bring the needs of their communities to decision makers and ensure that they have their rightful seat at the table.
We believe that for communities to be successful, to accelerate and sustain the change they seek, leaders and organizations need three key supports: funding, a supportive and well-managed learning community, and access to expertise. In our experience, organizations, especially those closest to the communities they serve, rarely have the opportunity to connect with their peers or participate in leadership development or supportive communities that larger organizations take for granted. Through Collaboration Networks and Action Accelerators, SCG provides these supports to organizations and their leaders, finding and nurturing the next generation of leaders.
Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement
Seek Common Ground believes that we can only fulfill our mission if diversity, equity, and inclusion are embedded core values and infused in our daily work and relationships.
Diversity: We appreciate differences-- including the wide range of identities, perspectives, and experiences--of all individuals. We seek to engage broadly, involving and reflecting the communities we serve.
Equity: Ensuring equally high outcomes for all by removing the predictability of success or failures that currently correlates with any social or cultural factor. We align our work, practices and routines so that all students have genuine opportunities to thrive.
Inclusion: We create an environment of involvement, respect, and connection – where the richness of ideas, backgrounds, and perspectives are harnessed to create value.
Educational Equity: Educational equity is the moral and civil rights obligation to ensure that students are provided the tools they need to succeed. This hinges on access to a school environment equipped for safe and stimulating learning opportunities, resources for social, emotional and academic growth, and excellent educators who are able to support students to meet their full potential so that they are prepared college, careers and life. *
In all we do, we seek to be conscious of and address the deeply entrenched practices, cultural norms, and decision-making structures that perpetuate inequities. Racial discrimination is a legacy of our nation’s painful history, and institutional racism and unconscious bias persist. Equity means receiving what one needs to succeed, as we are not all born with the same opportunities. We approach our work on diversity, equity, and inclusion with courage and optimism—knowing it requires a sustained commitment. When we make mistakes along the way, we will learn and grow.
*SCG’s DEI definitions are informed by our work with coalitions, partners, experts and our participation in the inaugural Promise 54 DEI cohort in 2018. We also adapted portions of our definitions from both Promise 54 and the New School Venture Fund.