- About Us
- Mission & Values
Mission & Values
Our Mission
The Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO) addresses fundamental issues of economic, social, racial, and environmental justice and works with people to achieve economic independence.
Bridging Gaps, Building Futures
More than a tagline, bridging gaps and building futures represents CVOEO’s ethos. CVOEO provides individuals and families with the basic needs of food, fuel, and housing support in times of crisis, and helps them acquire the necessary education, financial skills, and assets to build a stable future in which they thrive.
Our Values
CVOEO is committed to these values in our workplace and our communities:
Learning & Teaching
We use evolving practices to inform our work, believing that learning and teaching is a reciprocal process.
Action Oriented
We are dynamic and adapt quickly and find creative solutions in partnership with the people we serve.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
We embrace the diversity of our community and staff, and strive for equitable and inclusive access to services, resources and support.
Empathy & Humility
We are dedicated to a compassionate and person-centered approach, empowering people to achieve their full potential and desired outcomes in their lives.
Commitment to Community
We are part of the communities in which we work and live and together we create belonging and connection.
Our Strategic Plan
CVOEO’s 5-year strategic plan (2021-2026) specifies the following goals that guide our work.
Raise awareness, visibility, and understanding of CVOEO in communities where we work.
- Develop and implement outreach strategies to the general public in different communities we serve to increase awareness of CVOEO as a whole.
- Consolidate, create, and disseminate CVOEO messaging around issues of justice as it pertains to our work to the general public, donors, and the communities we serve.
- Unify CVOEO branding and messaging via training and collaborating with staff on unified messages and visual identity for print and digital communication materials.
- Consolidate public relations/media relations efforts across CVOEO programs.
Work in partnership with the people we serve to build individual and community resiliency together.
- Meet people where they are, supporting and encouraging self-advocacy.
- Bridge resource gaps for individuals and families in the communities we serve through client directed programming.
- Promote the use of common data to measure collective impact across all programs.
- Streamline client experience across CVOEO programming through a centralized client intake.
- Partner with the communities we serve to promote justice.
Recruit, train, develop, and retain a strong workforce that reflects our values.
- Ensure that outreach and hiring practices foster inclusiveness and do not act as barriers to employment.
- Create and sustain a workforce that promotes and reflects the diversity of the community serve.
- Advance CVOEO-wide staff development and training program, including cross-training between programs, to build staff capacity, skills, and understanding of depth and breadth of CVOEO programming.
- Create and implement a comprehensive diversity recruitment, hiring, and retention strategy aimed at increasing CVOEO staff diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Increase cultural and linguistic competency and understanding of implicit bias for staff and the board of directors.
- Cultivate an internal culture of innovation and learning aimed at impactful, client-driven programming.
- Expand initiatives in support of staff wellbeing and creating and maintaining a safe workplace.
Elevate and sustain CVOEO-wide strategies to bolster organizational diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Support the CVOEO Racial Equity Committee to serve as anadvisory committee on diversity, equity, and inclusion issues.
- Serve as advocates and ambassadors for diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Create and sustain a workforce that promotes and reflects the diversity of the community served.
- Create and implement a comprehensive diversity recruitment, hiring, and retention strategy aimed at increasing CVOEO staff diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Increase cultural and linguistic competency and understanding of implicit bias for staff and the board of directors.
Renew CVOEO’s infrastructure to allow for efficient use of existing resources and for the sustainable growth of CVOEO in support of client-driven programming.
- Modify CVOEO’s organizational structure to create operational efficiencies and effectiveness, improve programmatic outcomes, and enable effective leadership across the organization.
- Grow funding sources and expand revenue to develop innovative and sustainable client-driven programming across CVOEO.
- Explore use of internal and external technology to develop and maintain integrated services, respond to evolving needs of staff and the community, and reduce barriers to client’s accessing program services.