OUR MISSION:
WORK THAT MATTERS

As Common People United, we help mission-driven organizations create artful communication to inspire more work that matters.

What is "work that matters"?

“May we do work that matters. Vale la pena.”

- From Light in the Dark/Luz en Lo Oscuro by Gloria E. Anzaldua

Our tagline is a phrase borrowed from the wise and wonderful Gloria Anzaldua. In her book , she says “May we do work that matters. Vale la pena, it‘s worth the pain.”

Her words were written in February of 2002, in response to the devastation of 9/11. She is calling out to a grieving nation to be resilient “like the moon” and rise above. As she says, “it is is precisely during these in-between times that we must create the dream (el sueno)” and “allow spirit to sustain and guide us.” And her words couldn’t be more relevant today.

The “work” she is talking about is political in nature, but we think it should be applied to work more generally. Yes, we absolutely need big thinkers, big personalities, and big movements to see positive change on a national or global scale. We also need  small groups of people doing work that matters on a day-to-day basis, and we try to surround ourselves with people who feel the same way. As adults, we spend about 2000 hours per year at work. Why not make that time matter? Whether you‘re a teacher, a marketer, a custodian, a CEO, a doctor, a lawyer or an artist, you can work for the paycheck or you can work to make a difference in your organization, your community, or your world, and these small differences can add up.

For us, “work that matters” is less about what you do, and more about how you do it. And, it‘s more than just a tagline. It’s how we see our work, and how we see the world. And, Anzaldua was right—it’s so worth it.