ABOUT
The Vital Conditions Network
Our Shared
Vision + Purpose
The Inland Empire Vital Conditions Network strives to reimagine our collective actions to advance equitable well-being for all who call the Inland Empire home. We are united by a common purpose: to build a future where all people and places thrive — no exceptions.
Shape a Shared & Living Vision for Thriving Together
We support the many facets of the IE community to evolve together and see themselves in a shared north star where all people and places are thriving. We will:
- Capture stories, experiences and shared aspirations through partner and resident engagement
- Develop a shared narrative and case for change
- Help groups see their role in one or more vital conditions for Thriving, including mapping various efforts through this lens
Build Capacity for Shared Stewardship
We collaborate in ways that will grow the capacity of community and institutional leaders to educate and engage as effective stewards and regional collaborators. We do this by:
- Leading, funding, and hosting workshops and webinars focused on applying stewardship strategies to vexing issues
- Ensuring peer coaching to sector specific networks like higher education, K-12; healthcare; philanthropy, and more
- Distributing knowledge and activating networks by coaching and support to key networks already tackling key Vital Conditions – i.e., the CA Jobs First tables working at the intersections of areas focused on an inclusive economy, or the Inland Empire Creative Corps working at the intersections of multiple Vital Conditions
Convene Diverse Stakeholders
We work to create generative space for diverse stakeholders, including residents of the IE, to build relationships, heal, dream, and generate solutions together. This includes bringing individuals and groups that have lived experience with shouldering the burdens of inequity together with anchor organizations to create solutions by:
- Hosting annual Thriving Together events including Inland Empire
- Community Foundation’s policy forum
- Supporting other network conveners to convene around Vital Conditions and shared stewardship practices
- Convening network partners to learn, plan and act in concert
Measure Regional Well-Being
It is critical to know where we have opportunities to address gaps in Vital Conditions and to better understand who is suffering, struggling, or thriving in order to direct effective actions. We will work together to regularly:
- Measure and offer public access to the Vital Conditions at the regional, county and sub-regional level
- Collect well-being surveys to capture the percentages of IE residents who are thriving, struggling or suffering
- Engage in shared meaning making with community residents and partners
- Use and track data to catalyze change
Foster Shared Advocacy and Innovation
We will endeavor to create generative space and seed capital or other forms of funding critical to tap into the generative potential.
- Innovation funding to support experimentation and collective action
- Shared advocacy agenda for funding to innovate at larger scale
- A Well-Being Investment portfolio for the Vital Conditions we seek to change and the thriving we seek to create
The Vital Conditions as
Our Organizing Framework
“We see the vital conditions framework as providing a common language and narrative framing for our media and storytellers as we rebuild our information infrastructure through collective journalism. As stewards of this region’s stories, the vital conditions can help us tell more nuanced and impactful stories of how our communities are not just surviving, but thriving in place.”
Paulette Brown-Hinds
Founder, IE Journalism Innovation Hub + Fund
We are organizing around the Seven Vital Conditions for Health and Well-Being as a valuable framework. The Vital Conditions framework provides a common language, platform for collaboration, and alignment of our efforts as a diverse network of nonprofits, stakeholders and change-makers to create change for a thriving Inland Empire.
We encourage and support the efforts of individuals and organizations to apply and implement vital conditions in their own work, as those efforts complement and contribute to our shared vision and goals. We seek alignment and strategic collaboration among all endeavors as we work together to advance and amplify greater impact throughout the Inland Empire.
We commit to improving all vital conditions in our community so all people can reach their full potential, and strengthen their sense of belonging and civic muscle that is necessary for the equitable success in all facets of our collective work together.
“The vital conditions framework is not just a tool for addressing immediate needs; it is a long-term strategy for sustainable development and equity in the Inland Empire. Arts Connection- at the Arts Council of San Bernardino County, we are committed to embedding this framework into our core practices and advocating for its widespread adoption to ensure everyone thrives.”
Alejandro Gutierrez Chavez
Executive Director
Arts Connection | The Arts Council of San Bernardino County
“We all know that what’s required to advance thriving in the Inland Empire is immensely larger than what any one institution or sector can accomplish working alone, yet when we do come out of our “silos” to “work together” it is often still done within the sectors in which we work (education, healthcare, government, etc.). Just one of the benefits of using the Vital Conditions Framework is that it naturally fosters the cross-sector integration that we need to move the needle on well-being in our region.”
Damien O’Farrell
Chief Executive Officer, Parkview Legacy Foundation
NETWORK MEMBERS
Arts Connection Network
Autism Society Inland Empire
BLU Educational Foundation
California Desert Arts Council
Center for Nonprofit Management
Center Against Racism and Trauma
Community Action Partnership of Riverside County
Community Health Association Inland Southern Region
Family Service Association
Growing Inland Achievement
Healing Living Systems
Healthy Valley Foundation
HC2 Strategies
IEHP Foundation
Inland Empire Community Collaborative
Inland Empire Community Foundation
Inland Economic Growth & Opportunity
Inland Empire Health Plan
Inland Empire Journalism Innovation Hub + Fund
Inland Empire United
Inland SoCal Housing Collective
Loma Linda University Health
Lift To Rise
Making Hope Happen Foundation
Parkview Legacy Foundation
Regional Access Project Foundation (RAP), Inc.
TODEC Legal Center
Reach Out
Riverside Arts Council
Riverside Community Health Foundation
SBX Youth & Family Service
Tzunu Strategies
University of California Riverside – researchers & educators
Voice Media Ventures
World Be Well Organization
Youth Mentoring Action Network