These core values guide our actions as we unite and strengthen nonprofits across the country to improve lives and enrich communities.
Serving others by listening and leading
Our leadership in the sector is informed by listening deeply to the needs of frontline nonprofits and seeking insights from many perspectives. Keeping our hearts and minds open is vital to being bold and nimble advocates for nonprofits and the people they serve.
Getting things done, together
We can’t do this work alone-and we wouldn’t want to. With the combined knowledge and power of our dynamic networks and trusted partners, we share insights and develop real-world solutions to get results that matter.
Earning trust in everything we do
We are committed to acting with integrity in every aspect of our work, every day. We build and maintain trust by providing timely and practical information, conducting accurate analysis, and generating reliable resources.
Centering equity in all our work
In pursuit of a more civil and just society, we embed diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout our organization and the ways we carry out our mission. We purposefully and tangibly apply these principles in our internal operations, programs, policies, and external leadership. We focus first on racial equity, because systemic racism impacts all individuals and communities.
Honoring the nonprofit workforce
Nonprofits and their employees should have the respect and the resources needed to get their work done. In our own office, we practice what we advocate. Through our collegial culture, we celebrate each other’s victories and have each other’s backs—which helps us build a stronger team, a thriving sector, and a better future for all.
Core Values
The nonprofit sector’s vital role in our society.
A strong, independent nonprofit sector is essential for weaving the social, cultural, environmental, and economic fabric of our society. It provides needed services, gives people a way to participate as citizens and volunteers, stands up for underrepresented citizens, and pioneers solutions to major social problems. To fulfill these roles, the nonprofit sector must defend nonprofits’ fundamental right to advocate and lobby for their constituents and causes.
Innovation and a sense of hope
Nonprofits believe that we can create a better future through innovation and societal change. This sense of hope leads to creative approaches and new models that work. We seek to nurture the spirit of the nonprofit community by recognizing and celebrating successes and learning from valuable failures.
Integrity and accountability
We help nonprofits to be effective in achieving their missions and accountable to all their stakeholders – their community, constituents, donors, board, staff, volunteers, collaborators, and the government.  We believe in modeling this trustworthiness and integrity that earns continuously the public’s high regard for the nonprofit sector.Â
The rich diversity of the people of Sri Lanka
We celebrate, respect, and include all of Sri Lanka’s people, cultures, regions, religions, and political views.
Outstanding service
We are committed to a strong ethic of timely, reliable service to nonprofits of all sizes and types in all 100 counties of Sri Lanka. We strive to create an environment in which nonprofit practitioners feel heard, safe, respected, and supported.
Responsible stewardship
We are committed to careful stewardship of all human, natural, and financial resources. We use carefully the time and talents of those working with the Center, are environmentally responsible, and spend wisely the funds invested in us.
Sustainability
We believe it is important to recognize the value of nonprofits’ work by investing in their organizations and their people. This includes providing learning opportunities for volunteers and staff, as well as compensation and benefits that are adequate to sustain staff members and their families.
Code of Ethics and Values
Fundamental to all Mott grant making are certain values:
- Nurturing strong, self-reliant individuals with expanded capacity for accomplishment.
- Learning how people can create a sense of community, whether at the neighborhood level or as a global society.
- Building strong communities through collaboration to provide a basis for positive change.
- Encouraging responsible citizen participation to help foster social cohesion.
- Promoting the social, economic and political empowerment of all individuals and communities to preserve fundamental democratic principles and rights.
- Developing leadership to build upon the needs and values of people and to inspire the aspirations and potential of others.
- Respecting the diversity of life to maintain a sustainable human and physical environment.
Helping Hands Ceylon’s Equity statement
As the state membership organization, the Helping Hands Ceylon Organization (HHC) is committed to building a more just and equitable in Sri Lanka.
We recognize the history of oppression that has resulted in ongoing disparities for some communities, as well as the limitations of a nonprofit framework to address them. Yet, we have a powerful network of organizations and change agents with an opportunity before us to create positive systemic change. We believe that nonprofits that prioritize engaging diverse perspectives and evolve to be inclusive, behave equitably and have profound impacts on society.
For the above reasons, HHC is committed to transforming each aspect of our organization by confronting our own biases and operationalizing our values. We know that intention alone will not change things. To this work, we bring the successes and mistakes of our own continuing efforts in the direction towards equity on behalf of our members and all nonprofits. The mission and vision we hold for enriching the lives of all Sri Lankans, move us to directly challenge ourselves and to deconstruct frameworks of oppression while building opportunities for learning, change and accountability. We know: This work is urgent, and we will always be learning.
We will make mistakes and own our responsibility for corrective action. Our efforts will be tireless, and we will not stop.
HHC is committed to our own equity journey, the diversity of our membership and the broader nonprofit community as change agents that contribute to an inclusive and equitable HHC that champions our rich diversity.
– Approved by the Board of Directors on August 20, 2017 –
An important Diversity, equity and inclusion step for HHC
A message from HHC Board Managing Director Vandana Sammani Rajapakshe,
– August – 2016
On behalf of HHC’s Board and Staff, I am excited and proud to share HHC’s Equity Statement.
Our statement is a milestone of challenging and rewarding work that both HHC Staff and Board have undertaken over the last year and a half. The commitment reflected in the statement is born out of difficult conversations, sitting in discomfort, learning, course-correcting, and most importantly, a collective agreement to continue moving forward for a just and equitable Oregon. As many of you know, HHC has been fortunate to have great staff over the years, leading equity and inclusion work in the field. The recognition of our responsibility to stay relevant and to model that work from the inside out lead us to a phase of deep internal diversity, equity and inclusion work, which began in August 2016. We have been and will continue to be on a journey – a journey of reflection, action and continuous improvement.
We know we will make mistakes – we will listen – we will learn – we will adjust. We are committed to embracing these challenges with humility and accountability. As we further our work and refine equity lens, it will guide our decision-making and policies to sustain the work we do on behalf of the nonprofit sector across the state. We look forward to traveling together on this path, hearing from our members and engaging in ongoing dialogue and action.
In the five years I’ve been on HHC’s Board, I can say that guiding this momentous milestone and collaborating with HHC Board Members and Staff has been truly an honor and an unforgettable, deeply personal and satisfying experience.
In closing, to our membership and to the rest of our diverse sector and supporters, I want to restate:
- We see you.
- We are listening.
- We exist to support you.
- We are not done, and we are accountable to you.
With deepest appreciation and gratitude!
NAVIGATOR
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