Core Values: Dignity
Value Statement: "Dignity: We treat every person with respect and honor. We recognize and value the inherent worth of all people, empowering them to reach their full potential while fostering an environment of equity, belonging, and mutual transformation."
Value Statement with Description: "Dignity: We honor the inherent worth of every person and empower them to reach their full potential through transformative relationships. We approach our work with humility, listening before offering solutions and respecting the expertise of those we serve. We reject harmful dependencies in favor of meaningful partnerships where everyone contributes their unique gifts and grows through relationship. Through our consultative approach, we help partners discover existing strengths in their communities, develop solutions that foster agency rather than dependency, and measure success by how well dignity is preserved and enhanced."
Dignity Drives Our Work
Value Statement
We treat every person with respect and honor. We recognize and value the inherent worth of all people, empowering them to reach their full potential while fostering an environment of equity, belonging, and mutual transformation.
Definition
Dignity refers to the inherent value and worth of every human being. We believe every person possesses immeasurable worth regardless of their circumstances, abilities, or social position. This conviction shapes everything we do at Good Work.
Our understanding of dignity goes beyond mere respect. It includes recognizing that each person has unique gifts, capabilities, and expertise to contribute to their community. When we treat people with dignity, we affirm their agency—their capacity to make meaningful choices and participate in solutions that affect their lives.
Within our consulting practice, dignity drives how we approach relationships with clients, how we design programs, how we measure success, and how we engage with communities. Rather than positioning ourselves as the heroes who rescue others, we see ourselves as guides who help unlock potential that already exists in people and communities.
For those who share our faith perspective, this value is rooted in the belief that all people are created in the image of God. However, the principle of human dignity is one that resonates across diverse worldviews and belief systems. We partner with people of all backgrounds who share our commitment to upholding the worth of every person.
Why It Matters
In the nonprofit sector, many well-intentioned efforts inadvertently diminish dignity through approaches that create harmful dependencies or reinforce power imbalances. The culture of service in many communities is broken—often oriented toward self-sufficiency, which is both unrealistic and potentially harmful.
Research shows that successful community transformation happens when people discover and mobilize their own assets rather than focusing primarily on needs and deficiencies. When organizations fail to honor dignity:
Solutions become unsustainable because they're imposed rather than owned
Services address symptoms rather than root causes
Resources are wasted on interventions that don't create lasting change
Communities become increasingly dependent on outside help
Conversely, when organizations center their work on upholding human dignity:
People discover their own capacity to solve problems
Communities mobilize their existing assets before seeking outside resources
Relationships form that are mutually beneficial rather than one-sided
Both those serving and those being served experience growth and transformation
Impact deepens and becomes more sustainable
Our commitment to dignity isn't just philosophical—it's practical. By starting with dignity, we change how we approach every aspect of our work, resulting in more effective, lasting solutions to complex problems.
How It Shows Up in Our Work
In Our Consulting Approach
We listen before prescribing solutions
We position nonprofits and program participants as the heroes of their stories
We design measurement systems that capture dignity-oriented outcomes
We craft grant narratives that highlight participant agency and growth
We use the Results-Based Accountability framework that asks not just "How much did you do?" but "How well did you do it?" and "What difference did it make?"
In Our Program Design Support
We help organizations identify and build upon community strengths through asset-mapping
We encourage program models that foster participant voice and leadership
We develop metrics that measure increased agency and self-determination
We shift organizations from solely providing relief to fostering development
We help redesign programs to include opportunities for recipients to contribute
In Our Client Relationships
We treat every client with the same level of respect, regardless of size or budget
We honor the expertise of frontline staff and leadership
We provide honest feedback with kindness and respect
We maintain appropriate boundaries that honor everyone's time and capacity
We model mutual growth in our client interactions, recognizing that we learn as much as we teach
Implementation Principles
Start with Listening: Before offering solutions, take time to understand the lived experience of those you serve. Show up, pay attention, ask questions, and don't quit.
Shift the Narrative: Position program participants as the heroes of their own stories, with the organization serving as the guide. Remember that your organization is not the hero—the people you serve are.
Focus on Assets, Not Just Needs: Employ an asset-based approach that discovers and nurtures existing capacities within communities rather than imposing ready-made solutions. Map individual skills, associations, institutions, physical space, and economic resources.
Design for Agency: Create systems and programs that increase participants' ability to make meaningful choices and contribute to their communities. Always ask, "How can this person participate in the solution?"
Measure What Matters: Develop metrics that capture increased dignity, not just service delivery. Track how well your program preserves and enhances dignity alongside traditional output measures.
Foster Mutual Growth: Move beyond both harmful dependency and the myth of self-sufficiency toward relationships where everyone gives and receives. Create opportunities for those being served to serve others.
Reflection Questions
How have I positioned my clients in recent proposals or conversations? As heroes or recipients?
In what ways have I listened deeply to understand before offering solutions this week?
How do the metrics I'm tracking connect to increased dignity and agency for program participants?
Am I treating all clients with the same level of respect, regardless of size or budget?
Where might I be inadvertently diminishing dignity in my approach or language?
Am I focusing on providing people things or services they could do or get for themselves?
How am I helping move people from being served to becoming servants themselves?
Where in my work am I promoting mutual growth rather than harmful dependency or the myth of self-sufficiency?/
"We believe in creating spaces where people and communities flourish. Through strengthening organizations that serve others, we help renew what's broken and enable communities to thrive." — Good Work Beliefs
