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Guiding Principles

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Driven by a commitment to racial equity, Community Initiatives does the work of cultural organizing – organizing that catalyzes the cultural shifts needed to create sustainable change. Working alongside community, we seek to address the complex underlying systems and structures that perpetuate inequities. By collaboratively crafting proactive solutions that impact systems, organizations and individuals, we work to create thriving, healthy and equitable communities.

Guiding Principles

The focus and scope of Community Initiatives are guided by the following principles:

Community-Driven Collaboration

  • Community voice will drive our work, shared ownership with community members and partners is essential

  • Who we engage matters, we will strive to have a diversity of lived experiences represented in our work

  • Using a strength-based approach, we will utilize the knowledge, resources and expertise of everyone at the table, while actively working to build the capacity of all partners

  • We will show up as collaborative partners, acknowledging that we are part of community

Addressing Complex Challenges

  • Our work will be complex, we will grapple with this complexity, use emergent thinking and employ multiple strategies

  • Our work will intentionally employ strategies at the individual, community and systems level—working across multiple systems and communities to create change

Co-Creating New Narratives

  • Our work will be guided by a narrative approach to social change, we will recognize and tap into the power of narrative, reclaiming community narratives and co-creating new narratives that promote equity
  • Working to create equity will require an analysis of power, questioning assumptions, and explicitly naming and working to dismantle destructive dominant narratives

Our Practice

Our work seeks to facilitate and hold space for collaboration and co-creation. We believe that effective solutions require diverse stakeholders to work together. We serve as a bridge between communities, organizations, systems and perspectives. We do not come with solutions or guide change, we work to build shared ownership, leverage resources and catalyze collective action.

Contact Us

To learn more about our work or explore opportunities to collaborate, contact us:

Kirsten Johnson at kirsten.johnson@wilder.org or 651-280-2492

Sindy Morales Garcia at sindy.moralesgarcia@wilder.org or 651-280-2397