Our Values

The goal of the Global Human Development Program is to prepare students – through coursework, internships, extra-curricular activities, and practical field work – to understand the challenges of global development and to provide them with the tools to address those challenges as successful professionals. In keeping with Georgetown’s Jesuit values, strong focus on community and service engagement, commitment to social justice, and emphasis on cura personalis – care for the whole person – we seek to uphold the following values, which were developed with input from students, alumni, faculty, and staff. These values in part reflect what we do well, and in part reflect our aspirations for how we can do better as we continue to grow as a community. We aim to provide opportunities for our students, faculty, and staff to develop and practice these values inside and outside the classroom, and throughout our careers.

Service

GHD students, faculty, and staff are committed to service for others, especially those that are most vulnerable and marginalized. GHD seeks to foster in all its students, faculty, and staff a lifelong commitment to social justice, inclusiveness, equity, and service in our own communities and communities around the world.

Inclusion

We embrace the dignity and value of every person with whom we meet and work, whether in the communities in which we serve, the GHD program, our workplaces, or our personal lives. We strive to build a strong community of support among our students, faculty, and staff. We value our diverse backgrounds, experiences, identities, and viewpoints, appreciate how these differences enrich our perspectives on development, and strive to further enhance the diversity of our community. We aim to cultivate an approach based on humility and respect, and to center, uplift, and amplify the voices of people in the communities in which we work. We believe development efforts are most successful when they are based on mutual respect, inclusiveness, local ownership, and an open exchange of knowledge and ideas.

Innovation

We value the ability to think outside established paradigms, challenge ourselves, and continually learn and absorb new ideas in order to find innovative, scalable, just, and sustainable solutions that will improve human development outcomes. We seek ways in which existing practices, norms and institutions can be reimagined, reformed, strengthened, and improved. We aim to include diverse perspectives in our curriculum and co-curricular programming, and encourage students and faculty to approach every endeavor with creativity and rigor in both their personal and professional lives.

Ethics

We endeavor to prepare our graduates to navigate the challenging multi-dimensional decisions that are the hallmark of a career in global human development. Ethics is part of the foundation of our coursework, programming, and professional development. We aim to bring integrity, character, and sound moral judgement to every task, and to consider, respect, and value the diverse perspectives of those with whom we work and serve. We strive to constantly examine our own assumptions, identities, privileges, and biases. We oppose racism and other biases in all forms. We believe that students, faculty, and staff need to make sound ethically-based judgments about competing goods (or bads), balance their merits, and choose among them in the pursuit of a more just development system.