As the Calgary Alliance for the Common Good We Value . . .

Empowering Leadership

We work to gather and develop people who want to transform the world from what it is to what they believe it should be

 Here is how we live this out:

• We will actively seek out ways to take responsibility and use our own leadership to work for the common good.
• Each of us will invest in our own development as a public leader by taking advantage of opportunities such as: participating in local, regional, and national leadership institutes, seeking challenging leadership roles within our institution or the Alliance, and welcoming constructive critiques from mentors or other leaders.
• We will encourage the development of other leaders by taking time to discover people’s leadership potential and the connection between their interests and public life. We will encourage developing leaders to take advantage of training opportunities, we will help them find appropriate leadership roles and we will serve as mentors when appropriate.
• We will be held accountable for the commitments that we make to each other -- we will strive to be known as people who do what we say we are going to do.

Relationships of Dignity and Mutual Respect

We believe in developing trust and building community across the lines that divide us.

Here is how we live this out:

• We will work to create meaningful relationships among the members of our institutions by conducting relational meetings, building a Core Team, and engaging in periodic Listening campaigns.
• We will invest in relationships with leaders from other Alliance member institutions. We will build trust, find common ground and work together through conflicts and misunderstandings through face-to-face conversations.
• We will intentionally reach out, meet with, and build relationships and seek to understand those who are different from us. 
• We will respect each other's time by preplanning all meetings and starting and ending on time.
• We will prioritize building relationships through 1 to 1 relational meetings.
• We will treat each other with respect, suspend judgment, and remain curious about each other.
• We will invest in ally relationships with other organizations on specific issues.

Collaborative Democracy

We believe that people committed to building and exercising power with each other have the ability to change their communities for the better.

Here is how we live this out:

• We will work to build power with each other, through shared leadership, building our diversity, and looking for win/win opportunities.
• We will use our collective power to help inspire hope among our members, to stimulate our imaginations to develop creative solutions to the challenges we face, to motivate us to create and pursue our vision of the world as it should be and could be. Through this, we will seek to bring joy and pride to the work we do together.
• We will own the Alliance as our collective vehicle for strengthening each member institution and exercising power for the Common Good.
• We will work to secure and maintain our institution’s full membership in the Alliance, including a dues commitment that represents our fair share of the financial needs of the organization.
• We will develop core teams in our institutions that will strengthen our institutions and connect our communities to our shared work for the Common Good.

United in Our Diversity by Our Common Call to Justice and Compassion

Our work is rooted in the common call to justice and compassion found in our diverse religious, labour, and cultural traditions.

 Here is how we live this out:

• We will reflect on the values, history, and traditions of our institutions. We will work to make our institutions and traditions the best of what they can be and bring this richness to our shared work.
• We will take the time to learn about each other’s values, traditions, history, and strengths.
• We will seek out ways of supporting each other when our institutions and communities face challenges.

Impact for the Common Good

We will take action to realize positive changes that impact people and address the roots of our shared issues, with a focus on systemic change.

Here is how we live this out:

• We will have a bias for action -- mobilizing our power to win concrete victories that help alleviate the pressures or realize the dreams of the people in our institutions and communities.
• We will seek truth and take research seriously -- learning about issue content and power dynamics so that our actions are strategic and productive.
• We will evaluate and reflect on each action we take together (e.g., meetings, negotiations, trainings, etc.) in order to learn together and assess areas that need improvement.
• We will work to make sure that our institution’s interests and values are reflected in the Alliance's action agenda. 
• We will seek to address issues at their structural and root causes.

We do this in order to organize the power of our communities to shape a just and compassionate city.

*This is a living document, created in 2023. We are continuing to refine and expand on how our culture embodies our values.