We check in and revisit our values regularly. As we grow and learn, we aim to do better. Sometimes our perspectives shift or deepen, and we want that reflected in this work.
The image below is what our working copy of our values statement looked like earlier this year. Our values guide our decision making and our direction. We want to help you uncover your deepest values too.
At Ablaze, we identify as intersectional feminists which means that we recognize that a person’s social and political identities combine to create both discrimination and privilege (Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw). This means confronting white supremacy and racism, classism, colonialism, the patriarchy, and other systems of oppression. It also means internalizing disability justice and working towards a radical form of inclusion where everyone’s needs are considered in order to explicitly ensure that they’re welcome and able to participate in a meaningful way. These concepts can broadly be considered as equity measures, but we believe it’s important to specifically name the systems that both oppress and support.
We recognize that decolonization of ourselves and the systems that make up our society is crucial for moving forward in a just way.
We honour lived and living experience and strive to support and centre those who have been marginalized by oppressive systems. We value compassion and accountability – for ourselves, for those we work with, and for the larger community.
We reject the concept of scarcity at all levels meaning that we embrace collaboration, amplification, and support.
Ablaze strives to learn out loud and in public so that we can share both our mistakes and our triumphs, how we’ve learned and how we’re still learning, and so we can contemplate in community to share emerging practices.
UPDATED JUNE 2024
- Intersectionality
- Inclusion
- Decolonization
- Disability justice
- Valuing lived experience
- Supporting and centring those who are marginalized (let’s break this one down)
- Justice
- Compassion
- Accountability
- Equity
- Rejecting scarcity - support others doing good work and not see it as a competition
- Learning out loud
