Vision Statements (Draft)

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At the 8/20/2007 meeting, I proposed a vision, mission and goal statement and
then led the group through an exercise to refine the mission statement.
Below are the notes from the meeting as well as my own exercise in organizing
these thoughts and refining the mission statement.

Mission Statements (as of 8/20/07)

1. Sustainable West Seattle promotes a sustainable community in the
   neighborhood of West Seattle through education and advocacy of
   urban sustainability.

2. Sustainable West Seattle promotes and creates a sustainable West
   Seattle community through education and advocacy of urban
   sustainability. [but there is no mention of doing projects]

3. Sustainable West Seattle creates a community empowered to live and enjoy locally with careful use of resources through the education and advocacy of urban sustainability.
   

Vision (as of 8/20/07)

We seek a community that thrives on a lifestyle of nourishing foods, clean
water, abundant natural resources, safe and convenient transportation, and
healthy homes and that will remain an achievable lifestyle for generations
to come.

Goals (as of 8/20/07)

• We partner with West Seattle organizations to create a network
  of knowledge in the area of sustainability.

• We advocate for policy and initiatives that support building a
  more sustainable West Seattle community.

• We educate the West Seattle community on topics aligned with
  our vision.

• We lead projects that build community around the goal of a more 
  sustainable lifestyle.

From the SWS General Meeting 8/20/2007:

SWS will promote:

Tangible Products	Intangible Products	Other
Education Skills Resources Connections Information Tools Funding options Solutions Thought-provoking ideas Practical examples	Inspiration Voice Legacy Direction Possibility Community building Hope/celebration Support Ethic/values Clearinghouse/ Conduit Accessibility	Food

SWS __________ for the community:

Advocacy	Motivational	Encouragement	Other
Advocate Facilitates Coordinates actions Activates Connects Searches (on behalf of) Explores (on behalf of??) Lobbies Educate	Unites/Coalesces Energizes Leads Helps Empowers Inspires Envisions	Understands Nurtures Supports Demystifies Celebrates	Work(s) Questions Creates** Facilitates values-driven actions **

Other: Work(s), Questions, Creates**, Facilitates values-driven actions **

** fits in with the theme above related to tangible products.

Laura’s take on this exercise:

I split the words that the group offered at the last meeting up along some themes which fit more-or-less into some of the themes we were talking about on email. It seems to me there are 3 or so main actions that I can see this group engaging in: Advocacy of sustainable practices, Motivating the community to participate in a sustainable lifestyle and providing a support structure for those in the community willing to engage. Further, the “products” that we’d get from these are real-life examples of sustainable practices (i.e. bus maps and local food resources) as well as an environment that will allow the community to succeed in their sustainability endeavors.

From here I think we can derive a mission statement that captures this essence. My first take is:

SWS is dedicated to reducing our community’s use of natural resources through advocacy and education to promote awareness about consumption, facilitation of projects and events that foster conservation and by providing a support network of like-minded individuals, families and organizations.

I believe this is still consistent with the goals and vision that I wrote above.