Attributes

Our attributes guide our voice, tone, and visual expression when communicating on behalf of the Foundation. Everything we say or do should reflect these key traits.

 

 

 

Attributes—Visual Filters

Mellon’s visual identity is the set of visual markers that allows us to both express and reinforce our values through aesthetics. These visual markers encourage memorability, reinforce distinctiveness, and underscore authenticity. Our visual identity gives shape to our values.

 

 

  • Openness

    Key to Mellon’s new story is its commitment to opening opportunities for underrepresented people and experiences essential to human dignity.

  • Ambition

    Supporting big ideas that assert and empower all members of society and solve problems immediately and in the long-term by building just communities.

  • Partnership

    Fueling collaborations in service to visionaries and communities that interpret, shape, and enliven intertwined human experiences.

  • Leadership

    Purposefully ensuring reflective and nuanced stories are revealed and preserved to address historical inequities through improved understanding of a complex world.

  • Clarity

    Pristineness of purpose, strategy, and communication in announcing and fulfilling a mission at the intersection of the arts, humanities, and social justice.

Our Voice

 

Clear

Human to Human

Passionate

Of Service

Our Tone

 

Our tone varies in formality depending on context, topic, and audience, but it should always be both welcoming and sophisticated.

Welcoming

We take an open and accessible stance toward partners, grantees, and the public, to encourage conversation and mutual exploration.

Sophisticated

We are deeply immersed in the fields in which we invest, and we speak from that depth to connect with artists, scholars, and others who truly know their subjects.