Our Vision
Every Californian thrives and has equitable access to food, resources, and opportunity.
Values that Guide Our Work
People
- We honor the identities, experiences, and insights of our fellow Californians: our organization and our policy efforts are inclusive of that diversity.
- We center individuals who have lived experience with poverty, food insecurity, and the many unjust outcomes of systemic racism and structural oppression.
- Each of our actions serves both the well-being of our staff and the well-being of Californians with inequitable access to food and other resources.
Equity
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- We acknowledge the current and historic harm driven by systemic racism and structural oppression in all forms. We hold ourselves accountable for reversing that harm.
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- We pursue internal and external policies that shift resources and opportunity to individuals and communities targeted by oppressive systems.
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- To advance equity in California and within our own organization, we innovate -- crafting fundamental changes to the work we do and how we do it.
- We recognize the power of people and communities fighting for social justice and aim to help amplify that power.
Collaboration
- We treat everyone with respect, center lived experiences, communicate with transparency, and work to balance power within relationships.
- We approach people and policy change with humility, understanding that we will continue to learn, grow, and change.
- We engage in the necessary, difficult conversations to confront racism, inequity, and exclusion. We hold ourselves and others accountable for respecting the dignity of all people.
Integrity
- Our priorities are grounded in evidence, drawing on rigorous research and the lived experiences of individuals across our state.
- We assess our decisions to anticipate real and perceived conflicts of interest. When possible, we proactively prevent such conflicts. When conflicts of interest arise, we make timely changes to resolve them and rebuild.
We collaborate with diverse community partners for policy change, ensuring equitable access to food, health, and well-being for all Californians.
Our Goals
Cultivate a values-driven culture that is both grounded in the individual health and well-being of our staff, and sustains accountability to our mission.
| 1.1 | Achieve clarity on existing organizational culture and decision-making powers. |
| 1.2 | Articulate and put into practice an equity-driven culture. |
| 1.3 | Articulate and put into practice an equity-driven leadership structure. |
| 1.4 | Workload is aligned with staff’s capacity. |
Advance policy solutions that target the starkest inequities and are co-created with community partners, including those most directly affected by inequitable, oppressive policies and systems.
| 2.1 | Advance proposals for explicitly inclusive public policy that rectifies the historic and ongoing harm of structural oppression. |
| 2.2 | Institutionalize increased collaboration with diverse community partners. |
Broaden and deepen support of our work with more Californians taking advocacy actions or contributing to the sustainability of our campaigns.
| 3.1 | Increase recognition of Nourish California's name and focus areas beyond our existing community partners. |
| 3.2 | Supporters are educated, engaged, and take advocacy actions. |
| 3.3 | Increase individual and unrestricted giving. |
Develop a board of directors characterized by an inclusive model of decision-making; equitable opportunities for engagement; and a diversity of backgrounds and knowledge, predominantly including those with lived experiences of systemic inequities such as poverty and food insecurity.
| 4.1 | Board membership is increasingly held by those with lived experiences of the systemic inequities that Nourish California seeks to address. |
| 4.2 | The structure of the board fits the size of membership, allows for efficient and effective operations, and acknowledges the capacity of staff to support the board. |
| 4.3 | Board decisions are influenced by those with lived experiences from the community(ies) we serve. |
| 4.4 | All board members experience a strong sense of inclusion in board dialogue and belonging in decision-making. |
Achievements Since our Last Strategy
| ✓ | We led the advocacy campaign that established guaranteed access to free and reduced-price school meals for charter school students with low income. |
| ✓ | We developed and adopted a Strategy Roadmap to center justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) in our external work and internal decision-making. |
| ✓ | Our advocacy led California to restore funding for meals served in child care, securing much-needed resources for providers and the young children in their care. |
| ✓ | We enacted organizational policy to guide our partnerships with storytellers, honoring their experiences and providing meaningful compensation for their time and expertise. |
| ✓ | We amplified the stories of directly impacted Californians who are calling on state leaders to support Food4All -- inclusive food assistance for immigrants with no exceptions and no exclusions. |
Everyone in California Should Have The Food They Need to Thrive.