Since our founding 25 years ago, New Profit has been built on the principle of trust. Trust in the social entrepreneurs we invest in. Trust from the community of philanthropists and partners who make our work possible. And trust in the changemakers that we get to call our colleagues.
And trust in each other.
We can’t effectively pursue justice in our nation unless we pursue it in our own organization. That’s why we are actively shifting conditions across New Profit to enable a culture where everyone thrives. Josh Trautwein, Co-Founder and CEO of New Profit grantee partner About Fresh, pinpoints the vision: “All of our work to get to a place of true democracy has to be intersectional.”
That’s why New Profit stepped up to the MIC: Multiracial, Intergenerational, Cross-sector. The MIC describes both who we are and where our sights are set: “shorthand for what’s become our north star,” says our CEO, Tulaine Montgomery.
The social problems our partner entrepreneurs tackle aren’t easy, and neither is living the MIC. We approach the challenges the same way we do our work in the world:
- by collaborating through active partnership and candid conversation
- by tapping into the power of proximity
- by sharing information in the spirit of trust
- and by building our capacities not just to innovate EDIP solutions but to create a thriving work environment for all.
Living the MIC in practice means:
- we share equity leadership— because equity starts from within, and each of us holds its potential within us.
- we create and nurture affinity spaces— no matter how we identify, there is a safe and empowering place for all of us. We value and support proximity in our own organization.
- we focus on collective learning— because the MIC means we are all doing this together.
- we prioritize clarity and alignment in decision-making—who’s making the decisions? How? Why?
Living the values of the MIC is a continuous practice. It takes courage, compassion, and honesty—but mostly it takes time. As we pass our quarter-century milestone, we stop to reflect on time. “Twenty-five years sounds like a really long time,” Vanessa Kirsch says, “but in the world, in the mindsets we’re trying to shift, we’re just at the beginning.” We’re as excited about what is to come as we were the day we opened our doors, and we know that a thriving culture going forward means reckoning with our past. “At New Profit,” Tulaine Montgomery says, “we’re students of history and futurists at the same time. We deeply study the examples given us by history as we seek to build a new future.”