Birth Tenets of Urban Sparks

In 2003 Urban Sparks was born in a file box with our four guiding principles artfully depicted on the sides and with the most important one – YES – spelled out across the front. Inside were all of the applications necessary to form a 501(c)(3) public charity.

Our guiding principles: YES – Excellence – Conscious Evolution – Iconic Good

YES! Have you ever said YES and then been struck by the speed with which the next question comes – How?
NO is the easy answer, no work needed, no trouble started. Leaders say YES as they challenge the status quo and creatively make change, change that may not be fully appreciated for years. We started Urban Sparks to support and acknowledge the strength and vision of those leaders.

Conscious Evolution – is why Urban Sparks supports change. We believe that citizens can choose how and where humanity will evolve, not by genetic one-upmanship, but by caring communities consciously striving to improve.

Excellence – is accomplishing something that is important and personally meaningful. While that something is different for each of us at different times, when we strive for excellence, we challenge ourselves as much as we challenge outside forces. We seldom simply stroll to excellence. Some goals can take years of visioning, effort and creative problem solving to reach.  At Urban Sparks, we love to help unlock human potential along paths to excellence.

Iconic Good – refers to visible examples of community projects that, while serving the public, also serve to inspire new leaders and volunteers to pursue their dreams for community. We like to install plaques and post web stories so that the hard earned knowledge of project teams isn’t forgotten and so that others may be inspired to act on their ideas for the public good.