How We Work
Our Guiding Values
People First
We don’t just serve communities, we work with them. Every voice matters, and every story adds wisdom and direction to what we do.
Equity for All
We work to tear down barriers that get in the way of opportunity, because fairness shouldn’t be optional. Meaningful change happens when every young person has a chance to thrive.
Community-Led Strength
We trust communities to see what they need and to shape solutions that fit. Our role is to support and amplify that power.
Learning Through Experience
Education isn’t just information, it’s lived experience.
We create learning that builds confidence, self-awareness, and skill, not just knowledge.
Inclusion for Everyone
No one should be left on the sidelines. We honor each person’s contribution and create spaces where everyone’s ideas and strengths matter.
Cultural Respect
A person’s cultural and social identities provide purpose, power and pride and add value to the spaces they are brave enough to enter.
Framework
Our youth-focused initiatives follow the Positive Youth Development Framework, which emphasizes people as agents of change. Additionally, our organization is prevention certified through OhioMHAS.
Assets
Participants have the necessary resources, skills and competencies to achieve desired outcomes.
Agency
Participants perceive and have the ability to employ their assets and aspirations to make or influence their own decisions about their lives and set their own goals, as well as to act upon those decisions in order to achieve desired outcomes.
Contribution
Participants are engaged as a source of change for their own and for their communities’ positive development.
Supportive Environment
Participants are surrounded by an environment that develops, supports and strengthens their ability to avoid risks and stay safe, secure and protected; living without fear of violence or retribution.