maintaining culture through rapid expansion in order to end homelessness
at
Downtown Streets Team
Core Values displayed on DST's website
— end game
five essential principles that informed new operations and collaboration including Slack roll out
— role
full-time staff
Director of Strategic Initiatives
— timeline
june 2017 – may 2018
What it took
Understanding the essence of DST's culture through workshops adapted from Cooper's brand experience exercise
Paring down original list of 15 values developed by first employees to reflect the diverse staff that had grown over ten years
Engaging the full staff of 50+ social workers and managers on a participatory word-smithing process
Institutionalizing practicing core values through Slack and other collaboration practices
Incorporating core values into scaling model through quality control mechanisms and strategic partner agreements
All images the author’s own