Our Core Values
as a community and who we strive to be.
Community
The MAELS community honors the unique talents, contributions, roots and passions of its members- knowing that our strength lies within our diversity.
We are a community that values the individual and collective power for all members to have a sense of belonging.
Our emotional connection is guided by the value that we see in each unique individual coming together to honor all identities.
Joy
Joy holds a community together. In its truest expression, joy has the power to heal and transform. At MAELS, we embrace expressions of joy in all forms - as celebration, resistance, laughter, deep breaths, and extending help to a community member.
Transformation
At MAELS, we welcome all community members to transform their heart, mind and soul. Transformation is a process of learning and expanding on what you once knew that can happen through community or on an individual basis. Transformation never ends, looks different for everyone, and is often not linear. It embodies the feelings of others . Our community welcomes opportunities to become an ally, and upstander to disrupt systemic racism.
Although it can be uncomfortable at times, because it asks us to question what we know or thought we knew, the journey of transforming is always worthwhile.
Social Justice
At MAELS, we do not choose neutrality. We choose to be upstanders in the fight against oppression. We are guided by the belief that we all have the power to create a new world that honors the humanity and liberation of all people, especially those who have been historically disenfranchised.
We acknowledge the history of oppression that non-dominant groups have faced and continue to face. We grapple with hard history, data, facts and science to develop and grow sociopolitical consciousness.
Reflecting on systemic oppression and our role within it allows us to disrupt inequity. We know the power of small changes within ourselves and in our community will lead to a more beautiful, loving, equitable world.
