[IAEP] Motion To Approve 2017 Sugar Labs Mission Statement

[Tony Anderson]

Hi, Caryl

In the January 2017 meeting, the SLOBS approved the following motion:

motion: "Sugar is a learning platform based on the constructionist 
educational principles of Jean Piaget, Seymour Papert, Cynthia Solomon, 
and Alan Kay. Sugar Labs is responsible to develop, distribute, and 
support Sugar with the help of a global volunteer community of 
contributors. Sugar Labs provides Sugar in two forms: Sugar for personal 
computers and XOs and Sugarizer (Sugar Mobile) for mobile devices and 
the Web."

This seems to satisfy the definition of a mission statement.

Tony

On 04/22/2017 01:12 AM, Caryl Bigenho wrote:
>
> Hello All,
>
>
> This is long, but it needs to be done…
>
>
> It’s time to “fish or cut bait” as they say. We need to move on with 
> the Mission Statement and Goals for Sugar Labs. I am submitting a 
> Mission Statement as a motion to be considered for approval at the 
> April SLOB meeting. Then, with that in hand, we can move on to settle 
> on _4-5 broad reaching goals_to go with the Mission Statement to be 
> voted on in May or June.  Specific objectives would come after that.
>
>
> Most of the things people have put on the wiki are neither a mission 
> statement nor are they goals. They are Objectives. But most of them 
> lack the specifics to be considered a true objective.
>
>
> So… what _/do/_ we need in a Mission Statement?
>
>
> First let’s take a peek at the current one… yes we do have one and I 
> found it sitting right at the beginning of the Sugar Labs website 
> (https://www.sugarlabs.org/)
>
>
> /At Sugar Labs, we make a collection of tools that learners use to 
> explore, discover, create, and reflect. We are non-profit and led by 
> volunteers. We distribute these tools freely and encourage our users 
> to appropriate them, taking ownership and responsibility for their 
> learning./
>
>
> Not bad for starters! Now let’s take a look at that Wikipedia says 
> about Mission Statements:
>
>
> *Definition:*
>
> A *mission statement*is a short *statement*of an organization's 
> purpose, identifying the scope of its operations: what kind of product 
> or service it provides, its primary customers or market, and its 
> geographical region of operation. ... The purpose of a *mission 
> statement*is to focus and direct the organization itself.
>
>
> Here is the Mission Statement I posted last month, based on an 
> excellent document Walter had written about Sugar Labs:
>
>
> Sugar Labs Mission Statement:
>
> /The mission of Sugar Labs is to reach global learners (and educators) 
> with powerful free and open source educational tools to help them in 
> engage Constructionist learning./
>
> //
>
> So, with a minimum of editing, we can combine the two to get this:
>
> *Sugar Labs Mission Statement:*
>
> /The mission of Sugar Labs is to reach global learners and educators 
> with a collection of tools that enable them to explore, discover, 
> create, and reflect. We are a non-profit and led by volunteers. We 
> distribute these tools freely and encourage our users to appropriate 
> them, taking ownership and responsibility for their learning./
>
> /
> /
>
> O.K. Let's see if that meets the criteria in the definition of a 
> Mission Statement as stated above.
>
>   * purpose... check! The whole statement
>   * scope of operations... check! Global
>   * kind of product or service or service... check! Learning tools
>     distributed freely
>   * primary customers or market... check! Learners and educators
>   * geographical region... check! Global
>
> /
> /
>
> Therefore, I propose that the following motion be considered at the 
> April SLOB meeting:
>
> *_____________________________________________________________________________________________*
>
> *
> *
>
> *The 2017 Mission Statement for Sugar Labs shall be as follows:*
>
> *
> *
>
> /The mission of Sugar Labs is to reach global learners and educators 
> with a collection of tools that enable them to explore, discover, 
> create, and reflect. We are a non-profit and led by volunteers. We 
> distribute these tools freely and encourage our users to appropriate 
> them, taking ownership and responsibility for their learning./
>
> /*_____________________________________________________________________________________________*
> /
>
>
>
> Now, some sample mission statements from a few well known 
> organizations and businesses. You will note that some of the biggest 
> and most successful have very simple, concise mission statements:
>
>
> ** “Google's mission statement* is “to organize the world's 
> information and make it universally accessible and useful.”
>
>
> * “The Free *Software Foundation*(FSF) is a nonprofit with a worldwide 
> *mission*to promote computer user *freedom*. We defend the rights of 
> all *software*users.”
>
>
> ** “Oxfam* is a global movement of people working together to end the 
> injustice of poverty. ... Our *mission*: To create lasting solutions 
> to poverty, hunger, and social injustice.”
>
>
> ** “Mission statement*. The *mission* of the Wikimedia Foundation is 
> to empower and engage people around the world to collect and develop 
> educational content under a free license or in the public domain, and 
> to disseminate it effectively and globally.”
>
>
> ** “SIERRA CLUB MISSION STATEMENT*: To explore, enjoy and protect the 
> planet. To practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's 
> ecosystems and resources; to educate and enlist humanity to protect 
> and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to 
> use all lawful means to carry out those objectives.”
>
>
> * “We are *Doctors Without Borders*/Médecins Sans Frontières (*MSF*). 
> We help people worldwide where the need is greatest, delivering 
> emergency medical aid to people affected by conflict, epidemics, 
> disasters, or exclusion from health care.”
>
>
> ** Facebook’s Mission Statement*
>
> Facebook’s mission statement is “*/to give people the power to share 
> and make the world more open and connected./*” The company focuses on 
> making its social networking web site an important part of individual 
> users’ lives. The following are the significant components of 
> Facebook’s mission statement:
>
>  1. Empowering people
>  2. Enabling sharing
>  3. Connecting the world
>
> ** THE INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS AND RED CRESCENT MOVEMENT*
>
> The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a global 
> humanitarian network of 80 million people that helps those facing 
> disaster, conflict and health and social problems. It consists of the 
> International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Federation 
> of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the 190 National Red Cross 
> and Red Crescent Societies.
>
> * The *Mission Statement* of *Amazon*.com: ... The *mission* and 
> vision of *Amazon*.com is: "Our vision is to be earth's most 
> customer-centric company; to build a place where people can come to 
> find and discover anything they might want to buy online."
>
>
> What features do all of these mission statements have? They are _clear 
> and concise_. There is _no ambiguity_. There are few if any specifics 
> about history, organization, specific projects, and the like. That is 
> what we need Sugar Labs Mission Statement to be like.
>
>
> Cheers!
>
> Caryl
>
>
>

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