January 2021
January not only represents the start of a new year, but it is also National Mentoring Month! We couldn’t be more excited to start the year with exciting news! The Affinity team determined that there was a need to revise the current mission statement to more accurately reflect our work, and add a vision statement to help clearly forecast where we believe we are going as an organization.
New Mission + Vision
- Our mission is to facilitate equitable growth in academics, social emotional skills, and self-esteem through mutually beneficial mentoring relationships. We believe in cultivating a brave space that amplifies the voices of young agents of change in a diverse and inclusive community.
- Our vision is to be a leading nonprofit for fostering belonging alongside young people, families, and community.
Growth is a Process
We want to know who we are and be consistent enough to be recognizable, but also be open to change, listen well, and recognize when we are being moved into the next phase of ourselves as an organization. We know that Affinity, as well as our community, has been changing rapidly, and we are no longer the small, new, but beautiful organization that grew out of the missions department of Mars Hill Bible Church. We decided it was important to review our mission statement to ensure that it accurately represents what we are doing and the vision we have for Affinity in the future.
Next Steps: Community Listening Project
We recognize we cannot fulfill our mission and vision without listening to our community members. We launched a new Community Listening Survey as a step in creating a regular cycle of public feedback on our work, and giving power to the community to speak into where we will direct our resources and which projects we will prioritize. Read the Report.
