Sidebar newsletter: From CCLP Executive Director Christine Murphy

An article from the winter 2012 edition of Sidebar, CCLP's quarterly newsletter.

Christine Murphy

Colorado Center on Law and Policy staff and board members took a day in September to reaffirm our commitment to this vital work and realign ourselves with the organization’s mission and values. I’d like to share some of the results of that meeting: a refined mission, and a new statement of values, both of which guide our work every day.


Mission: The Colorado Center on Law and Policy advances the health, economic security and wellbeing of low-income Coloradans through research, education, advocacy and litigation.

Values
Research integrity: CCLP conducts fact-based research that is grounded in data, not ideology. CCLP presents results of research with a perspective but will not compromise the integrity of the product to get a particular result. We present facts in context, and we acknowledge the tradeoffs inherent in public policies.

Independence: CCLP takes positions with due consideration to political realities, but CCLP is mission driven and will not compromise in order to serve an outside agenda that is perceived as contrary to the mission, history and values of the organization and the low-income Coloradans CCLP serves.

Integrity: CCLP strives to be reliable in its partnerships with other organizations and an honest broker of strategies that will help achieve the CCLP mission. CCLP will not compromise its values or its mission for a quick or easy win and will act to ensure the best possible outcome for low-income Coloradans even if it means standing alone on an issue.

Fairness and equity: CCLP acknowledges the cultural and socioeconomic dynamics that create unfairness and inequity for low-income Coloradans. Through our work CCLP seeks to mitigate governmental, societal and economic factors that foster unfairness and inequity.

Effectiveness: CCLP is strategic in the work it undertakes so that we avoid activities that will not yield measurable results in the near term or systemic change over the long term. We practice principled pragmatism, always aiming for the ideal but accepting incremental progress when necessary.

Christine Murphy is executive director of the Colorado Center on Law and Policy. Reach her at cmurphy@cclponline.org.