Fundamental to the Local Journalism Foundation (“LJF”) are certain values:

• Nurturing strong, self-reliant individuals with expanded capacity for accomplishment.

• Learning how people can create a sense of community, whether at the neighborhood level or as a global society.

• Building strong communities through collaboration to provide a basis for positive change.

• Encouraging responsible citizen participation to help foster social cohesion.

• Developing leadership to build upon the needs and values of people and to inspire the aspirations and potential of others.

• Respecting the diversity of life to maintain a sustainable human and physical environment.

LJF is committed to transparency in its operations and grantmaking. With these values LJF lives by the following Code of Ethics for all its employees and board members: 

• Respect for the communities we work with and serve.

• Integrity in our actions.

• Responsibility for our decisions and their consequences.

We are committed to:

• Acting honestly, truthfully and with integrity in all our transactions and dealings.

• Avoiding conflicts of interest.

• Appropriately handling actual or apparent conflicts of interest in our relationships.

• Treating our grantees fairly.

• Treating every individual with dignity and respect.

• Treating our employees with respect, fairness and good faith and providing conditions of employment that safeguard their rights and welfare.

• Being a good corporate citizen and complying with both the spirit and the letter of the law.

• Acting responsibly toward the communities in which we work and for the benefit of the communities that we serve.

• Being responsible, transparent, and accountable for all of our actions.

• Improving the accountability, transparency, ethical conduct, and effectiveness of the nonprofit field.