Operating Principles

Safety: RYSE is committed to maintaining safety for the full diversity of youth we serve so they are able to take healthy risks emotionally, politically, and physically. We hold youth and adults accountable for upholding each other’s safety while participating in Center services and activities.  We also encourage our community members to keep our communities safe for our participants.  We understand that safety needs change, evolve and will look different for different youth populations.

Resilience & Assets: We are committed to meeting youth “where they are at” in their lives because we value the assets that youth bring to their own development, relationships and communities. Towards this goal, we collaborate with youth in identifying and strengthening their capabilities.  We foster relationships with youth that allow us to expand and then hold together multiple possibilities, paths and opportunities for the lives and relationships they want both in the present and towards the future.

Responsibility, Accountability, and Integrity: RYSE believes in creating youth and adult relationships built on mutual trust and accountability, which requires non-judgmental listening and the engagement of youth in experience-based education and discussions that provide them with information and options rather than advice. We believe that accountability is not the same as punishment. We commit to fulfilling our promises with youth and to be transparent about our limits. We aim to provide positive adult relationships with youth that model the mutual respect we seek to foster in their relationships with each other, their families and/or caretakers, and the communities in which they live. We assume trust in each other unless circumstances prove otherwise.  We develop trust in our practice of providing consistent services and offering predictable relationships and responses. Young people will have an ongoing role in developing methods of accountability, shaping consequences and problem-solving.

Leadership and Development: We commit to fostering the capacities and role of youth as strong, powerful and responsible leaders serving their communities. We understand comprehensive youth development facilitates a process of both personal and social transformation and are ready to offer support and resources towards these ends. Through holding decision making power, expressing their voice, developing critical thinking and analysis, young people will become prepared to govern and play leadership roles in their own lives and communities. We believe that change is always possible, and that both youth and staff deserve an equal opportunity to change and reach their potential.

Collaboration: We are committed to developing partnerships with youth, community members, the City of Richmond, and County of Contra Costa, the West Contra Costa Unified School District, neighboring cities, and youth health, advocacy and social service agencies that contribute towards an increase in youth development, leadership, advocacy and services across Contra Costa County.  We are committed to developing on-going – both planning and operational – partnerships in the public and private sectors, foundations, and donors.  We are here to learn from each other by allowing healthy struggle among ourselves, by challenging each other, but not disrespecting one another’s opinions or comments.    We value, acknowledge, and celebrate what each of us has to bring to this collaborative.

Social Justice and Equity: We are an activist effort, committed to mobilizing Contra Costa County and Richmond in developing coordinated and resourced efforts and policies that recognize the human and civil rights of youth, support their comprehensive health, and maximize their potential. We recognize various forms of violence experienced by youth as the most significant barrier to social justice and understand violence as including not only physical violence but also the inequality of opportunity across the diversity of youth and communities in Contra Costa County.  We are committed to disrupting injustices and prejudices against youth.  Across our relationships and work with youth, we continue to connect their personal experiences to broader issues of social justice.  

Cultural Relevancy & Accessibility: We believe in offering a safe multi-cultural and multi-racial space that provides programs and services that are culturally relevant and accessible to the populations being served at RYSE. We are intended to be a multi-racial, multi-cultural, multi-gender, multi-spiritual environment. We will work in collaboration with youth and communities to assess and meet these needs as they evolve over time.

Learning: We hold RYSE as a learning environment for youth, staff, community and collaborators. We expect that we will all make mistakes and believe that learning is an essential part of the development of individuals, programs and community. Though the practices of giving and receiving honest feedback and participatory evaluation, we seek to model and teach the value of knowing oneself fully and therefore being able to make choices towards producing the personal, programmatic and social changes necessary for healthy and satisfying lives, relationships and communities.