Our Vision is the platform that guides our group’s mission and purpose. It was created by, and approved by the members of this group, and reflects the diversity of thought of our members from around the world.

Our Core Values:

· We encourage productive change. We believe that productive change requires an active commitment as individuals to work together to find amenable solutions to complex issues. We believe that choosing to remain apathetic to the problems we face is to allow for the problems to exist. We believe that grassroots activism is a very powerful tool to create productive change.

· We believe in creating Positive change in the world. We believe that positive change cannot occur when individuals attack others for destructive and negative purposes. We believe that constructive criticism is one way of creating a positive change. We believe that honest, open-minded and respectful dialogue will open the door for positive change.

· We believe in creating progressive change. We believe that progressive change is a movement of individuals and groups working together to move the world’s cultures and societies forward, and to bring about the necessary changes to make the world a better place. We believe that progressive change requires activism to help those in need, to enhance the environment we live in, and to lobby for governmental change.”

Animal Rights:

· We support efforts to protect animals from inhumane treatment. We support laws to protect the rights of animals from abuse and neglect.

Civil Rights:

· We support equality and equal legal rights for all individuals regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, creed, religion, political ideology, or individual beliefs.

· We support the promotion of women’s and minority rights through awareness of inequalities within the various communities and support the creation of dialogue for change where it is possible.

Community Action:

· We support more community organizations to help address specific community concerns, and to help foster better relationships, and better dialogue between various citizens within our communities.

· We support and acknowledge the work of volunteers. Without our volunteers, our society could not function, and we would not be able to accomplish the many wonderful things which make our world the great place it is.

· We support the Arts and Sciences and the great works that our artists and scientific community provides us. We find joy and comfort in the Artistic community which provides us with music, culture and entertainment. We also acknowledge the great work that science does in bringing us new innovative technology and knowledge that betters our understanding of the world around us. We support federal, state and local funding for the Arts and Sciences to help foster growth, creativity and knowledge for future generations.

· We support the efforts to provide shelter, counseling and other assistance to victims of domestic violence. We believe that domestic violence can be prevented through counseling between the various parties, and mediation to prevent violence from occurring.

Education:

· We believe that regardless of your socio-economic status, all individuals should be given an opportunity to receive a high quality education. All schools should have the appropriate materials and resources to provide the best possible learning environment possible. We believe that a child from an inner city school should have the same educational opportunities and after school activities as a child from an upper class suburban school district.

· We believe that all individuals who display a willingness to go to college should be able to attend college regardless of their financial situation. We support making college more affordable by increasing federal grant programs, and by creating greater opportunities for lower and middle-income families to send their children to college.

The Environment:

· We believe that Global Climate Change is a serious issue which must be addressed at the both the personal and governmental level. We support finding innovative solutions to help confront the issue of global climate change.

· We support efforts to create a more sustainable environmental policy to help address the issue of encroachment of human development on natural ecosystems.

· We support efforts to protect the environment from deforestation, and from chemical emissions from industrial plants, including the reduction of power plant emissions of mercury into land and water.

· We support the use of organic farming for its efforts to better the environment and human health. We also support efforts to reduce the use of chemical additives and pesticides in our food supply which are harmful to human health and the environment.

Energy:

· We support finding innovative new sources of energy including wind, solar, biomass, ethanol and other new technologies to help reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Foreign Policy:

· We support more engagement of the international community to create consensus on how to address key concerns, and to build an alliance to achieve cooperation with our allies. We believe that diplomacy is the best solution to the many conflicts around the globe, and that the United States must take the lead in diplomatic efforts.

· We support efforts to reallocate federal funding from defense purposes to help address the root causes of conflict including the humanitarian crisis associated with global poverty, lack of clean drinking water, food shortages, and lack of economic stability. We believe that war is not the solution to the many conflicts around the globe.

Healthcare:

· We advocate that healthcare should not be a privilege but a guaranteed right. We believe that everyone should be provided preventative care, treatment and medicine regardless of ability to pay, and without having to be forced into financial debt.

· We support efforts by the scientific community to find cures for AIDS, Cancer, Diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer’s and other diseases. We also support governmental funding to help find cures to these diseases which affect the lives of millions around the globe. We further support efforts to provide for early detection of cancer and other diseases by providing affordable and easy access to healthcare services.

· We believe that we must address the issue of mental health by ending the stigma attached to mental illnesses and to encourage those suffering from mental health issues to seek treatment. We believe that we must ensure that individuals have access to affordable treatment, and to increase further research into treatments for mental illness.

· We support efforts to provide adequate information about birth control and safe sex practices to the public and to middle and high school students, to prevent unwanted pregnancy and the spread of STD’s. We do not support the use of abstinence only education, because it does not provide information about safe sex practices and leads to higher unwanted pregnancy rates in addition to higher instances of STD transmission.

Human Rights:

· We believe that human rights must be respected for all peoples across the globe. All individuals should be given an opportunity to live a life in a peaceful world with the basic necessities of life.

· We support efforts to address the issue of human rights though humanitarian and diplomatic efforts.

Humanitarian Issues:

· We support humanitarian efforts to help solve the poverty and HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa. We further support efforts to address the genocide and war in Darfur, Sudan through diplomacy and humanitarian aid.

· We support humanitarian relief agencies which provide food, water and housing during times of disaster. We acknowledge the work of volunteers who help those in need during times of crisis when unexpected disasters strike, and support the use of federal funds to help individuals and families to rebuild their lives.

Liberty:

· We believe that individuals should have freedom to speak out if they disagree with their government without fear of retribution.

· We believe that individuals have a right to privacy, and that personal phone calls and emails should not be wiretapped without court approval. We believe that there must be a balance between safety for our nation and personal liberty.

Public Policy and Governmental Affairs:

· We believe that government should provide a social safety net for families through the Social Security program, Medicare, Medicaid, and other social welfare programs. We oppose efforts to end or privatize these social programs as it would hurt families who rely on those programs for assistance in their daily lives.

· We believe that government should remain honest and transparent, and that citizens should remain engaged in their government to help bring about the necessary changes that are needed to ensure that government serves the interests of the people they represent, and not special interest groups.

· We believe that we need to change our election processes to enable citizens to have a more equal, fair and representative democracy. We advocate the use of election reform’s such as proportional representation, runoff voting, the abolishment of the Electoral College, campaign finance reform, a National Primary, and mandated paper trails for voting. We believe that such changes would allow for a more democratic process, with less chance of mistakes in vote counting.

· We support the right of all citizens of the United States to have representation, including the right of the residents of Washington D.C. to have representation in the United States Congress.

· We support the efforts of groups to engage more people in the political process though voter registration, helping to inform citizens about the important issues we face and where the candidates stand on those issues.

· We believe that we need more engagement of younger generations to give young people more of a voice in the issues that concern them. We believe that the younger generations are the future leaders and should be given a greater say in the issues that they face.

· We support local, state and federal candidates for public office who support and defend the ideas and goals of Concerned Citizens for Cultural Change. We also encourage more citizens to be involved in the democratic process by urging their elected representatives to change policy when changes are needed. We also encourage citizens to hold those representatives accountable in elections when they fail to affect the needed changes in public policy.

· We encourage more citizens to lobby their representatives to vote on important local, state and federal legislation which supports and defends the ideas and goals of Concerned Citizens for Cultural Change.

Religious Freedom:

· We believe in the promotion of religious freedom allowing everyone to practice their religion without fear of persecution. We further support the separation of government and religion to protect religion from governmental interference, and to prevent conflicts between governmental institutions and those of religious faith. We also support efforts to help foster greater dialogue between different religions and the secular community to help end conflict based on religious ideology.