ignite!: New Values, Vision & Mission
Our new monthly ignite emails have had some big announcements in 2025 so far. We announced our 20th Anniversary celebration in January, and last month we unveiled Leadership Eastside’s new CORE Experience 10-month program - nominations are open. This month’s ignite layers another exciting evolution that is strengthening Leadership Eastside: an updated Vision, Mission, and Values that better align to who we are today and how we will shape our future.
Over the past year, we examined our past, present and future pursuit of the “greater good” and refined our foundation to intentionally set us up for the work we’ll be doing over the next twenty years.
Values are fundamental beliefs we hold to keep us grounded in the ways we show up and how our work gets done. They are the pillars that hold up who we are, and are foundational to our work. Reading below, none of our refreshed values should surprise you because all five have been key parts of the work we have been doing for decades. The values are the “how” we do our work. This refresh better reflects who we are *today* and represents the stepping stones to pave our future.
Community Building: We center relationships through welcoming spaces, purposeful inclusion, and nurturing belonging.
Shared Responsibility: We inspire a collaborative culture where individuals feel accountable and empowered to improve the well-being of our community.
Racial Equity & Social Justice: We apply the awareness and tools required to promote justice and equity for everyone.
Systems Perspective: We address root cause issues and implement holistic solutions to ensure sustainable and generative community impact.
Thrival: We focus on the skills and mindsets required to build individual and systemic resilience to address complex challenges.
With this foundation, these value pillars support a renewed vision allowing Leadership Eastside to set a clear path to “why” we are passionate about our work as we move into the next 20 years. Together, our vision and values illustrate what we believe is both necessary and possible in order to build the community we strive to be.
A thriving and equitable community where complex issues are addressed through collaboration and shared responsibility.
Our values and vision lead us to our guiding light - our mission. This is the “why” we are here, the purpose we bring to our community. It answers the crucial question: How will Leadership Eastside contribute to this thriving and equitable community?
We build leadership capacity to address complex challenges.
Throughout the coming year, we will publish stories from some of our amazing alumni and partners who live out these values, vision, and mission. We know you will enjoy seeing these values come to life through the many dedicated leaders doing critical work.
In February, we featured a story about the work King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci does to bring people together to identify solutions. Not only is she a great supporter of Leadership Eastside, she exemplifies the vision of building a thriving community through collaboration and our values of Community Building and Shared Responsibility.
Last week, Chad Minnick (Board Member and 20th Anniversary Chair) and I took a field trip to Fall City. We met with Sarah Cox (LE’15) and Emily Ridout (LE’18, former Board Member) about opening Aroma Coffee as a community space. We can’t wait to share their story with you in an upcoming issue of our newsletter. Here’s a hint: their story starts with strong values that led to a vision which led to their mission.
We have many, many examples of work throughout Leadership Eastside’s network that are impacting our communities and organizations in ways that align directly with our refreshed values. You will be able to see the entire collection of stories at our 20th Anniversary Celebration Gala in the fall. Details on this celebration will be in next month’s ignite email so keep your eye on your inbox.
Our next event is the Class of 2025’s graduation on May 8. Tickets are on sale now and we hope to see you there!
From the desk of Jeni Craswell
