For two years, YWCA Madison’s staff engaged in deep reflection, collaboration, and action to define the values that would guide their work. These values—humanity, community, growth, and restoration—emerged from a collective effort to align their mission with meaningful, lived principles that could shape every interaction and decision. And now, as they launch a billboard campaign in partnership with Adams Outdoors, YWCA Madison views this initiative as the capstone of their collective work—a powerful public affirmation of the values they have built together.

The process of creating these values didn’t happen overnight. It began with personal introspection, as each staff member committed to examining their own relationship to the mission of YWCA Madison. Over the course of months, the Change Team, a small group of staff, led the team in a number of exercises and small group work practices that helped individuals explore the ways they could embody the organization's mission of eliminating racism and empowering women and promoting peace, dignity, and justice for all.

Staff meetings, retreats, and ongoing dialogue sessions were held to practice open communication and collaboration. Understanding that building an internal community was just as important as their external work. By supporting each other, they could create the type of environment that empowered them to better serve the larger Madison community.

YWCA Madison’s leadership, together with staff, committed to supporting collaboration within the organization while intentionally centering marginalized communities. Collaboration was no longer a vague aspiration but a concrete goal woven into the organizational structure. Staff within departments worked together to design new strategies for partnering with local organizations, always ensuring that their work centered the voices of those most impacted by systemic injustice. By institutionalizing these values, YWCA Madison created an organization-wide commitment to humanity, community, growth and restoration that went beyond individual efforts and became a collective practice.

Through partnerships, advocacy, and community engagement, YWCA Madison used its platform to challenge inequities in housing, education, and criminal justice. They stood alongside the most vulnerable in the community, advocating for policies that uplifted and empowered those who had long been marginalized. 

After two years of defining, refining, and living their values, YWCA Madison was ready to share them with the world. The billboard campaign, launched in partnership with Adams Outdoors, was not just a marketing initiative—it was the public culmination of their collective work. Each billboard, emblazoned with a value like community, stood as a testament to the internal journey the staff had undertaken together.

For the staff, the billboards are a declaration that these values were not just theoretical concepts but lived commitments. The campaign symbolized the power of working together, of building a community within YWCA that could then ripple outward into the broader community. It is a moment to celebrate how far they had come—and to inspire others to join them in living these values.

As YWCA Madison reflected on the two-year journey that led to this capstone moment, the staff knew that the work wasn’t done. The values of humanity, community, growth, and restoration were not static; they would continue to evolve as the organization grew and as the needs of the community changed. But the foundation had been laid. These values would guide YWCA Madison in their ongoing mission to eliminate racism, empower women, and create a more just world for all.

The billboard campaign was just the beginning of this next chapter—one where YWCA Madison’s commitment to community, and all their values, would continue to shape their work for years to come.