Introducing Imagine!'s New Mission Statement

Imagine! has a new mission statement! The information below comes from Imagine! CEO Mark Emery’s blog:


Today, I’m very pleased to present Imagine!’s new mission statement:

Creating a world of opportunity for all abilities.

 
Check out the short video below, then feel free to read more below about how we arrived at the statement, and how we think it represents Imagine! now and moving forward.

 

Can’t see the video? Click here. 

More than two years ago, we determined it was time for a new mission. The old mission had served us well, but it no longer represented the current reality of Imagine!. We needed a mission that reflected some basic facts about Imagine!:

• We do not only serve people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD); 
• Our activities go beyond delivering and arranging direct services to people; 
• And most importantly, Imagine! is unique from other providers of service and other organizations who function as CCBs. Imagine! is recognized as a great provider, innovator, and a leader in the field at the local, state and national levels. What we do matters to people we will never even know. 

In addition, we wanted a mission that:

• Was short (7 or 8 words tops); 
• Used positive language; 
• Was clear, memorable, and concise; 
• And perhaps most importantly, the new mission would not merely be a statement of what we do. Instead we wanted something that would serve as a unifying focal point of effort for all Imagine! stakeholders. We wanted it to be an audacious goal we could measure ourselves against. It doesn’t mean the goal would necessarily be a sure bet ... but it is one that we as an organization believe we can do anyway. 

So we gathered a team, including staff members and members of our Board of Directors, to create a new mission using this challenge as a jumping off point: Describe a world unaffected by cognitive disabilities, followed by, Is what you do every day contributing to this described world? In the end, we wanted a mission that indicates that everything we are doing, directly or indirectly, is creating this world.

After much brainstorming, engaging employees at all levels, conducting surveys on various mission statement options, we feel like we have come up with one that satisfies all of the criteria above. It is memorable and it is aspirational. It is a mission we believe that everyone associated with Imagine! can point to and say, “Yes, I believe in that, I can get behind that, and I can use that as something to strive for and look to in guiding my actions and where we all see our organization going in the future.”

My thanks to the many people who were involved in the process.