Truth in Humanity. Strength in Expression.
Positioning, Attributes, Voice
The messaging platform expresses Mellon’s vision, positioning, attributes, high-level messaging to key audiences, and behaviors— authentically clarifying who Mellon is, what we do, and why we matter.
Who We Are
Committed Champions for Change.
Through its support for the arts and humanities, Mellon opens and activates cultural expression to enable the understanding and acceptance necessary for just communities to thrive.
What We Do
Drive Innovation and Investment for Communities.
With a focus on excellence through the multiplicity of thought, stories, and expression, Mellon creates purposeful, lasting relationships and facilitates civic engagement.
Why We Matter
Truth in Humanity. Strength in Expression.
Social change and justice, now and into the future, requires leaders who support and encourage truthful narratives that connect us through our humanity.
Connecting Us All
We make grants to actively support the visionaries and communities who unlock the power in the arts and humanities.
Our vision is one of just communities, enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking where ideas and imagination can thrive.
Attributes
These personality attributes are consistent with the attributes of our Foundation overall, and should guide our voice when speaking on behalf of our activities.
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Openness
Key to Mellon’s new story is its commitment to opening opportunities for under-represented people and experiences essential to human dignity.
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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.
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Partnership
Fueling collaborations in service to visionaries and communities that interpret, shape, and enliven intertwined human experiences.
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Leadership
Purposefully ensuring reflective, complex and nuanced stories are revealed and preserved to address historical inequities through improved understanding of a complex world.
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Clarity
Pristineness of purpose, strategy, and communication in announcing and fulfilling a mission at the intersection of arts, humanities, and social justice.
Elevator Pitch
Mellon Foundation believes in a future where human possibility thrives within just communities. We actively support the visionaries who will unlock the power in the arts and humanities to bring forward the multi-vocal stories and expressions that connect us all.
Audience Messages
These personality attributes are consistent with the attributes of our Foundation overall, and should guide our voice when speaking on behalf of our activities.
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We are actively building a better future by supporting the visionaries and communities in the arts and humanities who will lead us there.
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We seek partners to help empower human possibility within open and engaged communities.
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We are actively building a better future by supporting the visionaries and communities in the arts and humanities who will lead us there.
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We seek active partnerships with those who believe in the inherent power of the arts and humanities to effect positive change in society.
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We recognize the power of the arts and humanities to imagine, reveal, and share the human experience.
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.
Attributes—Visual Filters
Mellon’s visual identity is the set of visual markers that both allows us to 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.
