Our guiding principles are embedded into every one of our interventions across all six sectors. We use the following guiding principles to drive change and ensure everyone can proactively move from hopelessness to hope.
Take a Whole Community Approach
Everyone experiences moments of hopelessness. Every single person in a city. It is how we manage those moments that matter.
That is the difference between our strategy and a standard mental health strategy. We don’t diagnose people or wait until they are in jail to get them support. We ensure everyone knows what hopelessness is, and inoculate them with tools to Shine Hope. Everyone needs to learn hope as a skill, so all of our programming is inclusive and impacts everyone.
We can not predict who will die by suicide, develop an addiction, or become violent other than if they are hopeless, as it is the single consistent predictor for these adverse outcomes, and we all experience hopelessness. So what we do is take a whole community approach and make hope everyone’s business by engaging community leaders, workplaces, educators, children, and all members of the community with a common language and framework for ‘how’ to hope.
We all need hope, and we all need to know how to hope.
Some of the key initiatives we suggest to Take a Whole Community Approach include using the Shine framework everywhere, launching a citywide public health campaign, and sharing our educational programming.
Bridge the Knowledge-Action Gap
To accomplish a whole city approach, leaders and community members need to simultaneously share their own moments of hopelessness while sharing how they use The Five Keys to Shine Hope.
Some of the key initiatives we suggest to Bridge the Knowledge-Action Gap include, encouraging government officials, CEOS, and presidents to create their own ‘Hope Story” by using the Shine framework and the 20/80 rule, conducting research on hope, and using a common brand for hope.
Utilize Solution-Focused Methods
So much work these days is focused on the problems rather than the scope of the issue. We encourage all, throughout all of our programs, to focus on solutions. In our Hope Hero Stories, and My Hope Stories, we suggest all spend 20% of the time on the problem, 80% on the solution.
It is time we look to others that have navigated similar problems, and see how they utilized the Shine framework to overcome them. We study individuals, and encourage others to do so. We then encourage all to put those skills into practice.
The more we focus on the problem, the bigger it gets. We aim to change that conversation to the solution.
Some of the key initiatives we suggest to Utilize Solution-Focused Methods include empowering all individuals that they can learn the skills to activate hope, and sharing the message of hope through My Hope Hero and My Hope Story.
Act Early Everywhere
Equipping everyone with the skills on ‘how’ to hope to ensure they can proactively move from hopelessness to hope before they experience the adverse outcomes of persistent hopelessness. It is important to ensure all know what tools are available for a crisis before they experience a crisis, and are equipped to better manage change and adversity.
Some of the key initiatives to Act Early Everywhere include incorporating hope education materials into schools for all children and youth, equipping parents with hope skills, and infusing the workplace with messaging around hope.
Empower All Citizens
Everyone has the right to learn the skills to hope. Furthermore, activating hope creates self-efficacy for your citizens, so they can start solving problems in the city. The reality is, we need an all hands approach to tackling our toughest issues, and it is impossible to do unless the citizens have hope.
Some key initiatives to Empower All Citizens include donating resources to ensure all have access to the skills to hope through programming, and working to reach all citizens within a city.
Amplify a Universal Brand
The impact of branding is crucial for establishing an easy to identify common language and framework. We now have attention spans of less than a goldfish, and it is hard to retain information. Consistent, recognizable repeated messaging is crucial for people to retain the information, which is why we believe transforming humanity from hopelessness to hope must be done through the power of a brand.
Some key initiatives to Amplify a Universal Brand include using consistent visual branding and standardizing communication around hope.
Use Evidence-Informed and Evidence-Based
All of our programs began with evidence-informed approaches before they became evidence-based. We partner with Universities and researchers that want to study programs. Everything we do uses evidence, and we study as we go to improve and iterate, using science-backed approaches and building and publishing evidence as we go.
Some key initiatives to Use Evidence-Informed and Evidence-Based information about hope is through ongoing data collection efforts, partnership to conduct studies, and encouraging everyone to measure their hope using the Snyder Hope Scales.
Activate the Shine Framework
Empowering individuals with self-management skills and fostering peer support is crucial. Education is key–people can’t address what they don’t know. It is normal to struggle with emotions like sadness, anger, or fear; however, preemptive skill-building is essential to prevent the development of chronic adverse emotionality and subsequent outcomes. We empower people to channel these emotions into collective change.
Some key initiatives to Activate the Shine Framework include sharing digital brochures, infographics, posters everywhere and spreading the message through comprehensive and strategic public health campaigns.