Our ethos is solidarity over charity, collective care before individual overcoming. For us, these are verbs, not nouns. We believe that the path to equality starts with centering members of our communities closest to the issues and solutions: women and gender-diverse people, and focusing on the organizing work of empowering communities together. 

We underscore their power—including their movements and acts of resistance—as an extraordinary force. Despite structural elements that constrict freedom and rights, women and gender-diverse people persevere and demonstrate transformative leadership and contributions. Women are multi-dimensional beings who bring richness to communities and positively impact all spheres of life. They make significant contributions to society and at home. They are our neighbours, teachers, colleagues, community organizers, relatives, and friends. 

Working in this space necessitates a genuine respect and acknowledgment of grassroots and women’s activism. As long as there have been injustices, there have been women fighting for better. We are the proud product of all the pioneers who came before us. We stand on the shoulders of brave and daring activists, everyday individuals, and dreamers.

Why women and gender diverse people? Why gender equity?

The fight for women’s rights, equality, and empowerment is universal. Women and gender-diverse people are disproportionately affected at all societal levels by unjust systems and practices rooted in patriarchal, racist, and oppressive ideologies and norms. Around the world, they face substantial social, cultural, and economic barriers to equality due to unequal power structures and conditions. These obstacles are particularly severe and multiply for women from marginalized groups, who are at risk of increased oppression, discrimination, and barriers, which further reduces their agency and choice. Barriers include impaired access to legal aid and healthcare, displacement and isolation, crisis and conflict, lack of quality employment or education opportunities, and inadequate economic resources, all of which may intersect. 

Women are often excluded from decision-making that impact them in homes, communities, societies, workplaces, and governments. During emergencies and crises, they are among the first to experience health and safety disparities and are at greater risk of losing income—especially if their mental health, housing, legal, or health care needs are unmet, or if state institutions exacerbate their vulnerabilities.  It is accelerated by violence and displacement which create trauma, restrict movement, and adversely impact the ability of women to access the support and services they need. As caregivers, health care service providers, or community leaders, women are often at the forefront of crises and conflict yet are the least likely to be supported in recovery, funding, and justice pursuits.

Ample evidence in the public domain underlines how advancing gender equity is one of the most effective ways to eradicate poverty, promote peaceful communities, reduce violence and exploitation, and bring long-lasting benefits to societies. It also means reducing economic vulnerabilities and mitigating exorbitant human and societal costs. 

The vision of gender equity is based on fairness, justice, and having equal access to opportunities and resources according to circumstances and needs. It is the means to identify and remove barriers that compound the disadvantages faced by women and gender-diverse people and dismantle gender and racial discrimination caused by the parameters of patriarchy, racism, class hierarchy, and colonialism. Advancing gender equity is the foundation for healthy and prosperous societies.

We value women and gender-diverse people because centring the marginalized among us creates equity and justice that benefits everyone. The journey is long, but with each step we all take, the horizon of equality draws nearer. 

We focus on humanitarian service and developmental programs for women and gender-diverse people from historically marginalized and underserved communities. We also promote active prioritization of gender equity through advocacy and community-building.

We strive to advance gender equality by prioritizing the intersecting identities, lived experiences, and needs of women and gender-diverse people. This includes factors such as ethnicity, culture, race, age, sexual orientation, immigration status, income, Indigeneity, spirituality, education, and physical or mental capabilities. 

WE PRIORITIZE

• Women and gender-diverse people deserve to live free from violence and abuse and discrimination of all forms. 
• Addressing systemic barriers furthering discrimination against women by building solutions that move toward just, compassionate, and equitable outcomes in communities. 
• Women and gender-diverse people with intersecting identities and experiences—such as BIPOC individuals—are invested in and cared for so they can build safe, thriving lives and have access to their rights and equal opportunities. 

We are dedicated to using both remedial and foundational frameworks in our programs and services. Our approach combines intersectional and root cause analyses, guided by research and lived experiences, to identify and address the interlinked causes of the issues we aim to challenge and creatively solve.

Our working practices aim to be trauma-informed, strength-based, gender-responsive, feminist, pro-choice, anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and participatory, with these principles integrated into every aspect of our work and relationships. 

Our approach focuses on community-oriented strategies that prioritize the experiences and needs of women and gender-diverse people and their communities, particularly those most impacted by the underlying drivers and conditions that give rise to disparities and inequalities in all forms. We work with community members in programming development, capacity-building, service design, and implementation by centring their distinct needs, agency, priorities, learnings, aspirations, and challenges. We honour women’s lived experiences and unique identities. We ask, “Whose voices should be heard as we shape our future together and share the bounty of our collective efforts?” The answer comes down to one simple yet thoughtful idea: shift and redistribute power. 

It is also important to us to critically dive deep into the root causes, name them, and tackle them to minimize the chances of replicating harm and derailing lasting progress. When we unpack the root causes of oppression using a gender lens, we see how gender power relations manifest to create these inequities. We defiantly confront gendered injustices and inequitable power structures, committing to learning from, supporting, and empowering grassroots movements dedicated to dismantling structures of white supremacy, discrimination, and patriarchy through powerful, loving actions. 

Justice and equity are core principles at GOOD TO BE GOOD. Why? Because gender discrimination stems from broader social injustices that affect everyone, everywhere. The only way to end it is by addressing its root causes and fostering social justice as a community.

How do we do that? At GOOD TO BE GOOD, we support our team in pursuing equitable outcomes through anti-oppressive, intersectional service approaches. We strive to reflect the diverse communities we serve and challenge systemic barriers and power imbalances that impact women. 

Additionally, we ensure that women and gender-diverse people we serve not only have access to basic survival resources but also can actualize their rights and are treated with dignity, agency, and respect. Practicing justice in our organizational operations means addressing gender injustices by considering all contributing factors. This includes fighting against racism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, poverty, and the stigma surrounding health and well-being, as these issues significantly and disproportionately affect women and gender-diverse communities.

Our values are central to defining who we are, what we do, and how we approach and express our work and relationships. We actively strive to meet the highest human rights standards in all aspects of our operations, including our policies and processes. Guided by our values and principles, we commit to ethical practices and decision-making, enabling us to drive our mission forward and challenge dominant paradigms around gender justice.

Learn about all of our organizational values here.