Core Values - CACCE-GWAN

Our core values are our fundamental beliefs and our highest priorities that drive our behavior, mission, vision and purpose.
These values shape our culture, enhance our environment and define how it is that we treat others and each other.

 LOVE
Our love for our Caribbean and Caribbean-American people spurs us to act on behalf of the Caribbean Community - promoting our people and preserving our culture. The way we show and manifest this love is by being the guide along our member’s path to success – success we believed is directly tied to access to resources: training, funding and networking.

INCLUSIVITY
We have seen so many definitions of the Caribbean over the years. We will work to be inclusive of the entire Caribbean in all that we do - all languages, all races, all dependent and independent countries. The Caribbean as we have come to know it  is comprised of the countries that touch the Caribbean Sea either culturally, historically, ideologically or physically. We are a water people - the Caribbean Sea unites us and contributed directly to the spreading of our diverse culture to the countries in and on the Caribbean Sea and beyond:

Anguilla – Antigua and Barbuda – ArubaBahamas – Barbados
Belize – BermudaBonaire – British Virgin IslandsCayman Islands
Colombia – Costa Rica – Cuba – CuracaoDominica
Dominican RepublicEl SalvadorFrench Guiana – Grenada – Guadeloupe
GuatemalaGuyana – Haiti – HondurasJamaica
MartiniqueMexicoMontserratNicaraguaPanama
Puerto Rico – Saba – Saint Barthelemy – Saint Kitts and Nevis – Saint Lucia
Saint Martin –  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – Sint Eustatius – Sint Marteen – Suriname
Trinidad and TobagoTurks and Caicos IslandsUS Virgin Islands – Venezuela

 COMMUNITYWe are here to create, nurture and build community. We believe that the following characteristics that we work to exhibit are required to do that:
1. Authenticity [ sharing true feelings ].
2. Mutuality
[ encouraging each other ].
3. Sympathy
[ supporting each other ].
4. Mercy
[ forgiving each other ].
5. Honesty
[ speaking truth in love ].
6. Humility
[ admitting one’s weaknesses ].
7. Courtesy
[ respecting each one’s differences ].
8. Confidentiality
[ absence of gossip ].
9. Frequency
[ making meetings a priority ].
Source: Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren via BibleOne.net.

SERVANT LEADERSHIP
How will we lead our community? Our leadership style is Servant Leadership. Servant Leadership is defined as follows:

* Servant leadership is a style based on the desire to serve and give to your community. By putting the needs of others first, you empower people to perform at their best. When members of the community see your passion and your commitment through your actions, they want to be connected to you. Source: nsls.org.

*
Servant leaders want to see their whole team grow and succeed. A servant leader puts their team first, customers second, and shareholders last. Servant leaders view leadership as an opportunity to serve others, so they’ll focus on listening and understanding their teammates versus speaking to and commanding things from them. Source: asana.com.

*
A servant leader’s focus is on serving others rather than serving themselves or being served by others. A servant leader meets people where they are at so they can climb to the top alongside them rather than charging ahead. Servant leaders don’t want to be successful all on their own. Servant leaders are looking to build a team not an empire, because they know once they build the team, success follows. Source: johnmaxwellteam.com.