B. PEAR Ecosystem Values
Values are basic and fundamental beliefs that guide or motivate our attitudes or actions.
They help us to determine what is important to us. Values are the motive behind
purposeful action.
The following values reflect the common themes that surfaced during the listening sessions conducted by the Office of Equity and state agencies between May and September 2021.
Access: Creating and supporting barrier-free design, standards, systems, processes, and environments so that all individuals, regardless of ability, background, identity, or situation, can participate in, use, and enjoy the benefits of: employment, programs, services, activities, communication, facilities, electronic information technology, and business opportunities.
Belonging: Values and practices that ensure no person is left out of our circle of concern. Belonging means more than just having access, being seen, or feeling included. It means that every member of society has a meaningful voice, that their well-being is considered, and that they can participate in the design of political, social, and cultural structures.
Dignity: We respect the sacred nature of each individual’s personhood. We honor the worth due each person by virtue of their existence as a human being. Human lives have an unimpeachable value simply because they are human, and therefore deserving of a baseline level of respect. That baseline requires more than the absence of violence, discrimination, and authoritarianism. It means giving individuals the freedom to pursue their own happiness and purpose.
Equity: Systemic, full, and true access to opportunities, power, and resources that allow all people to achieve their full potential and thrive. Our actions and decisions will be guided by the following principles of equity (RCW 43.06D):
- Equity is not equality. Equity requires developing, strengthening, and supporting policies and procedures that distribute and prioritize resources to people in identified groups who have been historically and currently are marginalized, including tribes;
- Equity requires the elimination of systemic barriers that have been deeply entrenched in systems of inequality and oppression; and
- Equity achieves procedural and outcome fairness, promoting dignity, honor, and respect for all people.
Justice: We make or do right that which has been done wrong. We embody what love looks like in action.
Love: Sometimes defined as a strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties. Love requires us to:
- Fumble Forward: The idea that we are each on a journey. We recognize that while we are on this journey, we are doing the best we can with the tools, conditions, and knowledge we have. We will have compassion and care for one another as we grow.
- Stay committed; stay open; stay adaptive: Our collective willingness to embrace the concept that words matter and that the labels we ascribe to ourselves are not simply ways of being “politically correct,” they are validations of our humanity. We create and support belonging by expressing love to one another and treating others as they want to be identified and treated. We will check our fear-based decisions to ensure a better future for all is achieved.
- Be humble: We own our stories, points-of-view, successes, and mistakes. We admit we do not know everything, in fact no one does, and that instead, we all have something learn from one another. We acknowledge there are things we do not know so we can approach each other with love.
Ubuntu: A South African (Nguni Bantu) term meaning “humanity,” often translated as “I am because we are,” stresses the importance of the interconnectedness of humanity. We recognize that our destinies are linked and we need each other to survive.
Apply PEAR Values to Agency Work
State agencies are encouraged to tailor the descriptions for the values listed above in a way that guides their agency’s PEAR work.
Example use of PEAR Values
Below is an example of how the Washington State Office of Equity describes the PEAR values in all of its job announcements:
We Value
- Access: Barrier-free environments so everyone can participate.
- Belonging: The right to participate in all aspects of society with acceptance, attention, and support from members of the society, providing the same to others.
- Dignity: We honor the sacred nature of each individual’s personhood.
- Equity: Acknowledging systemic inequalities by developing, strengthening, and supporting policies and procedures that distribute and prioritize resources to people in social identity groups who have been historically and currently are marginalized to ensure everyone has access to the same opportunities, power, resources, and outcomes to achieve equality.
- Justice: Treating people fairly. To make right. What love looks like in public (Cornel West).
- Love: A selfless and giving act of the will. We seek to out-give and out-serve the other.
- Ubuntu: I am because we are. We are interconnected.