OUR MISSION

The mission of The Staten Island Foundation is to improve the quality of life on Staten Island, particularly for the least advantaged, with a focus on improving education, health, community services, and the arts. Strategies to accomplish the mission include financial support; providing leadership for the community; collaboration with grantees, funders, and other entities; and building the capacity of local organizations to better fulfill their missions.

OUR VISION

A Staten Island that is a vibrant, diverse community of inclusive, civically engaged neighbors, where all residents — especially the least advantaged — have the resources necessary to maximize their potential and to enhance the quality of life on the Island.

OUR VALUES

​Inherent in the Foundation’s role to help improve the quality of life in Staten Island communities is the commitment to:

• Act with integrity, and serve as leaders on Staten Island
• Be an ethical, effective, accountable, approachable, and transparent organization
• Adhere to and model best practices in philanthropy, and exemplify the highest ethics and business practices
• Promote equity, opportunity, and civility on the Island
• Add value through intelligence, insight, and boldness, taking measured risks and leadership on certain issues
• Act with compassion and remain flexible and responsive in addressing emergencies and other critical needs

OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Key principles that guide the Foundation’s activities include the following:

• Give priority to efforts focusing on the least advantaged
• Operate in ways that are open and transparent
• Be goal-oriented and research-based
• Seek out or initiate high impact funding strategies, while continuing to be responsive to nonprofit and community needs
• Be flexible, responsive, and open
• Take advantage of opportunities to make a difference
• Leverage resources in the community
• Promote collaboration and be collaborative
• Exercise leadership in fostering collaboration, building nonprofit capacity, and developing new solutions to community challenges
• Seek opportunities to partner with community leaders and other foundations to combine and focus funding for increased impact
• Demonstrate respect for the nonprofit community
• Seek to measure and evaluate grants in order to understand their impact and learn from efforts over time