The Value of Connectedness
Mission Capital has six powerful core values that serve as the foundation for our mission and vision. These values guide how we work within our organization and in the communities we serve.
Collaboration: We believe in the power of working together.
Service Excellence: We go above and beyond to exceed expectations.
Trust: We respectfully and ethically interact with each other and those we serve.
Learning: We pursue and promote leadership and growth.
Innovation: We relentlessly pursue creative solutions to improve our work and our community.
Connectedness: We create opportunities to work and play together in meaningful ways.
As an organization, we strive to incorporate our core values in our daily interactions, our program and service delivery and measurement, our hiring process, our employee development, and our rewards and recognition practices. In this segment of our Value of Core Valuesseries, we’ll explore Mission Capital’s core value of connectedness.
Defining “Connectedness”
There are multiple ways to describe what "connectedness" means for an organization. At Mission Capital, we took the time to break down exactly how we live and own it as a core value. Connectedness is vital to Mission Capital because it helps us see how each person in the organization contributes to the success of our mission. This value helps align our team with our mission, while developing friendships across the organization. Connectedness is also beneficial in retaining staff by helping individuals stay invested in each other, our work and our mission.
Connectedness in Action
This January, our staff took an entire day to collectively live out our core value. We had been planning to devote a day to serving together for some time, and were excited for the opportunity to give back to our community. We were also looking forward to connecting with one another outside of the traditional work environment. So, we contacted our friends at United Way, and they found the perfect opportunity for us to pitch in at Webb Middle School.
The Webb Middle School student body, according to Principal Raul Sanchez, includes more than 90% economically disadvantaged students and 60% English language learners. The school is rooted in one collective belief: it takes a village to raise a child. Through our service, we are proud to have connected with not only that belief, but also with the students and faculty of Webb Middle School.
We supported teachers and staff with two main projects throughout the day. Half worked with office administrators and teachers to clean out storage, sort files and organize supplies in the library. The remaining half worked outside in the school’s community garden, laying mulch, weeding and cleaning up the area. The teachers, principal and staff were extremely grateful for our time, but we were equally as grateful for the opportunity to give back to our extraordinary community.
“As a team that spends all day, every day serving this community, I would not have imagined that coming together for a single day of service at a local school would have been as refreshing and impactful as it was. But it turned out to be one of the best uses of our team’s time in my 10 years at Mission Capital!”- Matt KouriCEO, Mission Capital
Throughout the course of the day, our team put connectedness in action, bonding through our service and shared experience. To celebrate a day well spent, we continued to connect over a small happy hour at Black Star Co-op. Connectedness looks different in every organization. Whether it's volunteering together or partaking in a company happy hour, you can build connection in your workplace culture. On behalf of team Mission Capital, I challenge nonprofit leaders to consider ways you and your organization can foster connectedness.