A LIVING LIST
of MISSIONS,
COMMITMENTS,
and VALUES
Works Progress Administration (WPA)
Federal Writer’s Project (FWP)
Center for Appropriate Transport (CAT)
United Nations Children's Fund (UNECEF)
Portland Development Commission
Portland Economic Development Task Force
World Health Organization (WHO)
Independent Thinkers and Proactive Moderators for Transformation 2020-2030
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
California Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD)
New York Police Department (NYPD)
Texas Rangers (Texas Department of Public Safety)
Mission of the Guardian Angel (Chicago)
US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Federal Communication Commission (FCC)
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
National Aeronautical Science Association (NASA)
Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation
United Food and Workers International Union
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
Driving the Human (Contributed by Erin Langley)
Eugene Contemporary Art (Contributed by Erin Langley)
International Union of Sex Workers (IUSW)
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
MTV (salich01 [Wayne State Student in CAN 374])
Triple Canopy (Contributed by Noa Taylor)
Queer|Art (Contributed by Noa Taylor)
National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI)
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Commission (SNCC)
American Indian Movement (AIM)
Los Angeles Unified School District
New York State Education Department
New York City Department of Education
Houston Independent School District
The School District of Philadelphia
Dallas Independent School District
Oakland Unified School District
San Diego Unified School District
Puerto Rico Department of Education
Miami-Dade County Public Schools
New York State College of Ceramics @ Alfred University
School of Architecture at Taliesin
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
Leningrad Experimental Graphics Laboratory
Oregon College of Art and Craft
Center for Land Use Interpretation
Los Angeles Poverty Department (LAPD)
National Association for Social Workers
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)
Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE)
Illinois Department of Human Services
The Civilian Conservation Corps
Krenov Shool of Fine Furniture
Lane County Poverty and Homelessness Board
Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP)
Copyright and Fair Use Project
Illinois Housing Development Authority
The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF)
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS)
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC)
Coach (Contributed by Mary Evans)
Spiritualists' National Union (Contributed by Mary Evans)
Espacio Migrante (Contributed by David Peña)
Otros Dreams en Acción (Contributed by David Peña)
Indiana University (Contributed by Conner Gordon)
MACK Books (Contributed by Conner Gordon)
Bluestockings Books (Contributed by Anastasiya Gutnik)
Judson Church (Contributed by Anastasiya Gutnik)
Tierra Del Sol Foundation (Contributed by Ashley Campbell)
Adobe Creative Software (Contributed by Ashley Campbell)
Punkaganda (Contributed by Christian Alvarado)
Tessera Arts Collective (Contributed by Christian Alvarado)
Contemporary Art Museum Raleigh (Contributed by Sydney Lee)
Weatherspoon Art Museum (Contributed by Sydney Lee)
The Pulitzer Arts Foundation (Contributed by Ellen O'Shea)
Lush (Contributed by Ellen O'Shea)
Center for Art Research (CFAR)
Oregon Center for Contemporary Art
Institutional missions, commitments, and values are foundational to the work engaged. In some cases, the expression of these core beliefs drive structure and afford opportunities and resources that wouldn't otherwise be possible, evolving over time to better and better serve their objective. In other cases, these statements may be more related to branding, hustling donor support, or contributing to a clandestine agenda or such that is related to other institutions, systems of belief, or systemic forms of bias. Sometimes these statements come from direct need in a specific moment, sometimes they come from a place of generosity or privilege, and sometimes they come from optimism, or vigilance, or some form of aspirational or custodial human awareness. None of them are neutral. And they are all subject to so many forces; the age, context, the realities of their authors, the wake of work engaged, etc. etc. And while so many appear to be monolithic and relatively stable, in reality they are all fluid, relational, and only as effective as perception and real buy-in affords.
This is a living list of missions, commitments, and values from institutions and collectives across the planet, with a particular emphasis on those rooted in the United States. Categories are intentionally loose and exist without headings, and entries are intentionally not in alphabetical order to promote skimming and browsing rather than hunting and gathering.