Along with our funding, we aim to be a source of ideas and a platform for connections and cross-fertilization among our grantees, other funders, and other individuals and organizations that share our goals. 

Four core, overlapping principles infuse our work:

• The importance of listening as a process for opening minds, increasing understanding, and informing decision making. We see the foundation of dialogue as learning to listen with empathy and with curiosity – and we recognize that learning to listen in this way is a lifelong endeavor.
• The importance of relationship-building in fostering and sustaining individual, organizational, and social change. We believe that it is through trusting, caring relationships that we create meaning and purpose in our lives – and for us how we treat each other is where the “rubber meets the road” in any work we do. 
• The importance of collaboration in solving problems and taking effective action in a world of rapid change, increasing complexity, and great uncertainty. We think the ability to work collaboratively with other individuals and organizations, as well as across fields and networks, is a key skill for the 21st century – and something far easier said than done.
• The importance of taking time over time to hold spaces for relationship building, dialogue, and collaboration to take root and organically evolve. We believe that shifts in thinking and behavior generally don’t happen overnight – and we acknowledge the value of sustained engagement in creating new organizational and civic cultures.