Mission

Excelsior Works! envisions an Excelsior community where multiple generations of immigrants and working class families are able to live and thrive, contributing to and sharing the benefits of a healthy local economy. Our co-working structure was developed as a strategic approach to maximize our collective impact and facilitate referrals among immigrant serving organizations working in the Excelsior neighborhood.

Our holistic approach to employment support makes time to understand each clients’ story and how their circumstances affect their job readiness, allowing us to tailor our approach and to build strong relationships with each client. With our co-location model, a range of credible, culturally responsive workforce development resources are more language accessible, welcoming, and visible to disconnected residents, therefore fostering increased use of services that lead to self-sufficiency, job placement, and a sense of community belonging.

Core Values

  • We are all born, raised and enveloped in culture, and it is central to building community. It informs how we communicate with each other, the way we receive information and helps shape the thinking process of groups and individuals. A culturally responsive community recognizes the importance of including cultural references in all aspects of neighborhood life, enriching experiences and keeping residents engaged in contributing to its health and vibrancy.

  • Community engagement is the process of working collaboratively with community groups for the purpose of developing and applying a collective vision for the benefit of a community. Process should be inclusive and reflective of the diversity that exist within the community.

  • Social Justice is both the process and the principle in which those who are directly impacted by society’s systems of oppression (class, race, gender, sexuality, etc.) become central and empowered decision-makers to transform those systems, eliminate oppression, and sustain and advance society in a more just and equitable direction.

  • We believe that making concrete systemic changes based on the needs of the community is important for a strong and vibrant community in the Excelsior.

  • Art is defined as something that is created with imagination and skill, that is beautiful or that expresses important ideas or feelings. We will strive to promote and encourage the sharing of art in the Excelsior community, believing in the power of art to support our ideals and beliefs.