ORGANIZATIONAL VALUES: 

Respect - We intentionally honour and respect every unique story in all of our interactions with individuals, organizations and communities.

Trust - We work hard to establish a sense of trust in everyone we work with by maintaining and following restorative policies.

Humility - We recognize that we can never completely understand the lived experience of another and so we work to create spaces where everyone has an opportunity to share.

Compassion - All our work is driven by compassion, the sincere desire to empathetically understand others.

Inclusivity - We embrace diversity, and strive to create spaces where all voices have the opportunity to be heard.

Collaboration - We believe in authentic partnerships and recognize that safe and vibrant communities exist when we all work together.

Forgiveness - While never an expectation or a requirement, we endeavor to facilitate processes where mistakes are viewed as an opportunity for positive transformation. 

 

These values translate into the following types of approaches: We meet people where they are and aim to deliver what they need; collaborate whenever possible; are a learning organization that strives to be a thought leader in restorative justice best practices by being curious, experimenting and information sharing; we embody a spirit of innovation by acting in a way that recognizes the changing landscape of our communities and the evolving needs of residents, including equity seeking groups. 

We believe the wisdom is in...
Dreaming

We are accountable to the dream of a future free of systems that perpetuate violence and harm. We work with each other from the heartspace of the world we want to create.

Conflict

We believe that conflict is a natural part of life, and presents opportunities for healing, learning, and change.

Unsettling

Process

We believe that just outcomes are achieved by first centring the needs of those most impacted and creating space for these voices to be heard. To do this well, we must root our agency in a process-oriented approach towards restorative justice. This won’t always be easy or free of discomfort, but it will allow us to effectively practice restorative values and principles.

Beyond Binary

We embrace diversity, complexity, and nuance. Our work is grounded in a holistic worldview that recognizes the coexistence of multiple truths. We understand that the community members we work with have multiple intersecting identities, and we work to create spaces that honours their full humanity. We believe that moving beyond the rigid cycle of blame and punishment can create space for accountability and growth. We invite curiosity and reject assumptions.

Honouring our Needs

We believe that when we work to meet the needs of others, it creates space for healing, accountability, and transformation. At the heart of what we do is the understanding that our well-being is intricately tied to the well-being of others. We prioritize building communities of care, and believe that if we are able to meet the needs of those most impacted by inequities, we will be supporting the whole community (Jacqui Shine, Movements for Justice). Lastly, we know that to meet the needs of our community, we have to take care of ourselves. We need time to be together, to rest, to play, and to honour our own limits.

The wisdom is in the Circle.