Discussion forum

Mission Vision (Values*) Goals Worksheet

© Wei Ming Dariotis 2010

What is a Statement of Mission, Vision, (Values) and Goals?

Organizations, associations, committees and other groups of people can use a statement of their Mission, Vision, (Values) and Goals to guide their collective work. Committees sometimes refer to this statement as their “charge,” in other words, what they are charged to do. Such a statement can help shape courses of action, resolve disputes, and relate the identity of the group to its production.

What is the Goal of a Statement of Mission, Vision, (Values) and Goals?

A Mission statement clarifies your purpose and motivates people to be involved in your organization. Non-profit organizations also need to have a Mission Statement to achieve 501 (c) (3) Status.

*The term “Values” is in parentheses because many groups choose not to articulate their values in this kind of statement.

Example: The College of Ethnic Studies’ Mission and Purpose Statement

(Note: the original is not divided into Mission, Vision, Values, and Goals—these divisions are provided for illustrative purposes only)

Mission: The mission of our College is to provide a safe space and resources for students and faculty to study our histories of resistance and cultural productions by giving voice to philosophies and perspectives that, while not typically valued in traditional academia, truly represent the diversity of worldviews of communities of color and among indigenous peoples.

Vision: We recognize the validity of multiple paradigms in the construction of knowledge and encourage the integrated study of all aspects of the human experience.

Values: Our commitment to self-determination is reflected in the College's founding curricular emphases on liberatory student-centered pedagogies and community participatory learning that promote creative thinking on solving social problems and disparities in communities of color and indigenous peoples.

In our teaching, scholarship and creative work, we specifically analyze structural forms of oppression and address the intersections of race, ethnicity, and other forms of identity and social status. Our work affirms comparative and transdisciplinary approaches to national and diasporic questions.

Goals: The primary aim of the College of Ethnic Studies is to actively implement a vision of social justice focusing on social inequalities that exist on the basis of race and ethnicity. Therefore our teaching, encouragement, and mentoring of students and student organizations have the goal of developing long-term leadership skills, knowledge of self, and collaborative activist abilities within and between communities of color and indigenous peoples.

Questions	Fill In
Mission: Why did your group start? What is its purpose? How are you going to achieve your vision?
Vision: Describe the local neighborhood and/or global world that you envision being achieved by your group?
Values: By what values should your group abide in order to create the world you envision? What values will help your group achieve your mission and your goals?
Goals: What specific, measurable, goals does your group seek to achieve?