Letter from the Chair

Why does any organization make such a fuss over the wording of its mission and vision?

Because words matter.

Precisions is needed to describe core purpose; imagination is needed to express what is possible. If done well, both statements should remain relevant through many years and persist through changes in organization leadership.

LRI’s previous mission statement guided the organization for decades. While its essence remains, the Board of Governors and staff felt that it did not capture all of what LRI has become. After much thought and deliberation, the board recently approved a new mission and a new vision.

Our Mission
We engage and connect people through shared experiences that positively transform individuals, organizations, and communities.

Our Vision
We see a Rhode Island that is flourishing – economically, civically, culturally – built on a foundation of ever-improving human capital whose strengths and potential we spend each day revealing and igniting.

And we see the lessons of this lively leadership experiment being shared and amplified around the country and the world to nurture the kind of fully-engaged societies that create lasting, positive change.

We believe that these new statements honor our organization’s great tradition and recognize LRI’s efforts to encourage engagement and expand impact. LRI’s Core Program, which each year brings a diverse group of established and emerging leaders together to participate in a 10-month community leadership program, continues to thrive. But your LRI provides so much more than that:

• In 2004, College Leadership Rhode Island was added to provide a career readiness program that inspires, educates, and engages a diverse group of student leaders
• In 2011, LRI added Publick Occurrences, in collaboration with The Providence Journal and Rhode Island College. Publick Occurrences encourages civil public dialogue about significant, often controversial, issues confronting Rhode Island. Since its inception, more than 5,000 people have attended these forums.
• In 2014, LRI, in partnership with Gallup, launched Make RI Stronger, a multi-year initiative to dramatically improve Rhode Island through strengths-based training and education. LRI’s efforts in this area have made us a model for the nation
• In 2016, LRI launched a series of Jeffersonian Dinners, where LRI alumni dine together while sharing personal stories around a profound, current topic in Rhode Island and our country.

The common denominator in these efforts is bringing people of varied backgrounds and viewpoints together through engagement and shared experiences. We continue to believe we are planting the seeds of positive change.

Your LRI is already setting an example for community-based organizations elsewhere. Organizations are reaching out, trying to understand more about LRI’s successes, particularly the strengths initiative. As our new Vision statement suggests, we are eager to share our experiences and see them amplified around the country and the world. LRI welcomes individuals and organizations to come see what we are doing in Rhode Island.

So I hope you are as excited as I am about LRI’s new Mission and Vision statements. I think they articulate well what your LRI is doing today and what it can be tomorrow.

— Paul Oliveira, ’07, Chair, LRI Board of Governors