Organizational Values and Practices
Mertz Gilmore’s founders, LuEsther T. Mertz, Harold Mertz, and their daughter, Joyce Mertz--aided later by Joyce’s husband, Robert Gilmore, a Quaker and the foundation’s first president--intended for their philanthropy to reflect the following beliefs:
That arts and culture were essential ingredients to a full, enriched life
That peace and social activism, as well as human rights and democratic values, were inextricably linked
That the public interest demanded a just and equitable world
That the earth and its resources were finite and precious, and must be protected and preserved.
Consistent with these beliefs, grants from the early years supported work in the following program areas:
Environment
Human Rights and Democratic Values
Peace
New York City
Cultural, Education, and Humane Concerns
In selecting these broad areas of interest, the founders recognized that no one could foresee the future. As LuEsther put it, future generations “should not be led by the dead hand from the grave.” With the passing of the founding members, this sentiment freed up the organization’s leadership to respond to urgent concerns in the 1980s and 1990s, including early global warming data, the AIDS crisis, the Oslo Accords, and the gay rights and immigrant rights movements.
In 1994, the board built on the founders’ expressed beliefs with the following statement:
“ … the foundation has been fortunate to have a founding legacy, which the current board and staff understand, that change rarely comes in neat packages. While recognizing the need to be clear about desired ends, we also know that there may be unexpected problems and unanticipated consequences, as well as surprising victories. Efforts aimed at improving the human condition take time, experimentation, and a willingness to accept the unpredictable. Real work, worth doing, requires a patient and humble devotion to learning and adjusting alongside the grantees.”
In the decades since, the Foundation has sought to honor the legacy of our founders both by maintaining commitments to their values and priorities while also consistently seeking to adapt our work to address present day needs and opportunities.
In 2019, the Foundation adopted the values and practices described below, lifting up the Quaker ethics of equality and integrity—believing that no individual is more deserving of rights and respect than anyone else, and striving to make our actions consistent with our values.
Justice and Equity
We strive to embed equity in our internal practices and culture and in how we steward all of our resources to contribute to a just world.
We work to dismantle systemic racism, classism, and sexism in our organizational practices, culture, and the solutions we advance.
We ground our work in the historic, structural understanding necessary to overcome racial anxieties and other divisions that have plagued our country since its founding.
We work to shift power to the communities most impacted by disparities, supporting people’s capacity to determine their shared future and reshape our democracy through their leadership.
Collaboration and Interdependence
We prioritize partnership, strong relationships, and authentic engagement.
We rely on the wisdom, expertise, and different lived experiences of the members of our team.
We listen carefully and center the perspectives of field leaders and those most impacted, acknowledging that no one lives single-issue lives.
We bring a systems approach to solving problems that stem from interrelated causes.
We provide space and bring people together to connect, dream, and engage in shared work.
Accountability and Learning
We consistently synthesize new knowledge and approaches that we gain from partners and lessons from our own previous efforts to make our work more responsive, creative, and impactful.
We take responsibility for aligning our impacts with our intentions by sharing information and being transparent about our decision making processes, successes, and failures and taking feedback from each other and from those with whom we engage.
We focus on making the biggest impact we can by supporting emergent work in our grantmaking, making long-term commitments, providing capacity building, and leveraging our partnerships with other funders.
We act with patience and intention, taking the time to assess, learn, and adapt. We challenge established beliefs and question assumptions to check for biases as we act and make decisions.
