Evolving Our Focus: The Journey from Issue Agnostic to Transparent Passion"
At 1000 Feathers, we often find ourselves saying that we are issue agnostic, meaning that we partner with organizations, coalitions, and systems across the southern United States on a range of issues. For example, we have worked with a community foundation in North Carolina on strengthening career and college pathways, a nonprofit in Oklahoma focused on creating a movement to improve sexual health outcomes for youth, and a county-wide collaboration in Spartanburg, South Carolina changing the narrative on homelessness (to be viewed as a solvable problem) and ensuring that everyone has a home. This idea though, of being issue agnostic, could be problematic in a number of ways. On the surface, being issue agnostic could be taken to mean that:
We work with organizations, coalitions, and systems without any regard for issue area.
We are unable to form an opinion on an issue.
We are unable to commit to an opinion on an issue.
We are unwilling to take a stand on an issue.
We know that our words and what we say matter, and that is why we have made a conscious decision to change our narrative away from “being issue agnostic” (obviously, this is always easier said than done!) and towards transformation. And providing clearer words about who we are and how we work has helped us see not only that we are passionate about many issues but we also care deeply that our partners know where we stand. While we are still (and will probably always be) a work in progress, our vision, mission, and promises provide an umbrella for all of the issues supporting our transformation efforts and what it looks like when we work alongside organizations, coalitions, and systems.
Vision: All communities and the people who live in them have the strength, resiliency, and ability to reach their full potential.
Mission: The mission of 1000 Feathers is to transform organizations, coalitions, and systems across the southern United States.
To our clients and partners, we promise to be:
Inclusive: Transformation only happens when all voices are heard, when equitable opportunities for contribution and input exist, and when everyone feels shared ownership of the path forward.
Impactful: Transformation only happens when we push beyond another report or plan and instead stay focused on changing the way we think, act, collaborate, and solve challenges.
Committed: Transformation only happens when we invest in long-term relationships and make a commitment to trust the process.
Data driven: Transformation only happens when we intentionally translate data into meaningful action.
What this means is that at 1000 Feathers, we work with organizations, coalitions, and systems on issues that contribute to all communities, and the people who live in them have the strength, resiliency, and ability to reach their full potential. We use processes and practices in our relationships with our clients and partners that are inclusive, impactful, committed, and data driven to meet the opportunities and challenges of the moment. Reflecting on her 40 years in journalism, Christiane Amanpour said, “There was no, ‘On the one hand, on the other hand.’ In situations of gross violations of human rights…you cannot be neutral because then you are an accomplice. All of that came to me, and I distilled it into, ‘We have to be truthful, not neutral.’ And it applies to everything.” In our work, we are also not neutral. We are passionate about the transformation of organizations, coalitions, and systems across the southern United States so that everyone has the ability to reach their full potential.
