RITA ALLEN FOUNDATION MISSION STATEMENT

Mission Statement

Our mission is to promote the Common Good. Our major concentration will be in medical research and treatment. We intend to broaden our medical support both in numbers and medical fields through the Rita Allen Foundation Scholars Program and other grant activities.
In a rapidly changing world, we intend to be flexible enough to respond to unique challenges, ideas and projects that lie beyond our identified program areas. These might include unproven projects having above average risk with groundbreaking possibilities where there is little other support.

Guiding Principles

To honor our rich history and to guide our activities in the future, we, the Directors and staff of the Rita Allen Foundation, embrace the following guiding principles:

Innovation

1.     We will be an innovative and agile organization; to this end, we will rely on strategic, collaborative approaches to initiate and support pioneering programs that break new ground and challenge the status quo. 

Focus

2.     We will focus our efforts on enduring areas of domestic and global concern; our goals especially include advancing the frontiers of biomedical science, leadership and education. We will respond to short-term societal needs and undertake programs consistent with the mission and vision of the Foundation.

Lasting Outcomes

3.  We seek to advance new ideas and discoveries that address the root causes of challenging problems; we will define success by objectives linked to a significantly positive and lasting impact on individuals and the broader society.

Collaboration

4.     We will work with and convene leaders to develop and implement strategies that support innovation and bring new ideas and information to targeted groups; new areas of collaboration will evolve as we continually reevaluate human needs.

Core Values

5.     We will bring to our work and seek in our relationships with others a commitment to, and belief in, the positive power of courage, hope, passion, and shared aspirations; we are committed to translate these core values into effective action.

Leadership

6.     To be a leader and a model both in our programs and in our operations, we will embrace appropriate levels of risk; we will foster an entrepreneurial spirit informed by inquisitiveness, due diligence, creativity, and responsible stewardship of our assets.

Learning

7.     We will engage in a collegial process of continuous learning, hard work and reassessment; we recognize that these qualities are essential to achievement of our mission.

July 2009