Our Core Values

A Learning Culture

• We sustain a spirit of adventure by investing in and rewarding curiosity, creativity, and innovation.
• We offer venues for information sharing, analysis, education, and training that foster professional and institutional growth.
• We develop individual, departmental, and institutional goals that strive toward excellence and that are coordinated, reassessed regularly, and rewarded when achieved.
• Enthusiasm and experimentation are honored, respected, and encourage; we learn from our successes as well as our failures.

Respect

• We demonstrate esteem for our community, collections, and culture as a whole.
• We ensure the safety of our collection, living and non-living alike.
• We acknowledge the contributions of our entire community including all employees, volunteers, visitors, researchers, donors, and partners, at all points of contact.
• We honor our founders’ rich legacy in shaping our programs and practices.

Integrity

• We fulfill the promise of our mission through behavior that reflects honesty, responsibility, and fairness.
• We clearly state our intentions and act accordingly, both personally and institutionally.
• We are forthright and truthful in our interactions with others.
• The organization supports professional courage by creating an environment and establishing policies such that individuals feel safe to speak up when witness to wrongdoings or when identifying a need for development.

Transparency

• We conduct ourselves with openness and candor in all aspects of our work.
• We seek feedback from all directions to achieve open communication and foster collaboration.
• We offer constructive feedback to others that is timely, specific, and descriptive.
•  We are proactive in communicating outcomes up, down, and across the entire organization.