Value Spotlight: Belonging
Value Spotlight: Belonging
CMTM has 5 core values: belonging, play, community, curiosity, and trust.
Each month, we are shining a light on a different core value and the how and why behind its significance to our organization and the people that make up our CMTM community.
This month, we are taking a closer look at Belonging.
EXPAND Belonging at CMTM
How do we define belonging as a value?
Everyone belongs at the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine. We believe each person has value and worth; we celebrate what makes each of us unique and what binds us together as a strong community.
Why belonging?
To create a community where all children can thrive, we must ensure access, inclusion, and opportunity to vital community resources like the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine.
Children of varying abilities and backgrounds need different tools and opportunities to feel comfortable and thrive in our facility.
Access and inclusion—in essence, belonging—help to ensure the greatest opportunity to celebrate the diversity of Maine’s children and families and beyond.
Every program, show, and exhibit at the Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine (CMTM) strives to ensure that all children are seen, reflected, and belong. In every conversation and through all collaborations, we seek to create a broadly inclusive community that brings joy, learning, and connection to all children and families.
Belonging within our strategic plan + the path ahead
Belonging at CMTM is anchored across all priorities in the strategic plan. By explicitly focusing on advancing diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion, we hold our commitment to belonging at the center of our work.
In this priority, we continue building trust by fostering an environment for people to thrive. We aim to support and celebrate the larger community's unique perspectives, identities, and experiences.
This priority is simultaneously systems and relationship-focused, advancing our practices within and beyond the walls of CMTM. We strive to increase physical, linguistic, and programmatic accessibility. We are dedicated to creating inclusive connections among community members and groups and providing resources for all.
We work to become an organization that serves as both a window and a mirror - where diverse communities see themselves reflected and where children and their families can learn about and celebrate differences. Our goal is for belonging to be seen and felt by all who engage in our work and for this value to remain foundational as we grow.
About CMTM’s Strategic Plan
In the fall of 2022, CMTM embarked on a year-long journey to realign our mission, values, and priorities with our new building and begin to paint the picture of who we want to be for ourselves, our visitors, and the community - today and tomorrow. The CMTM board and entire staff devoted themselves to two retreats—one in the summer and one in the fall—as well as hundreds of hours of discussion and work groups to contemplate and define our priorities and plan for the future. We also sought community feedback through focus groups comprised of children, caregivers, corporate and foundational partners, educators, advisory councils, and community leaders. Additionally, a community-wide survey garnered more than 300 responses.
Drawing upon insights from all these stakeholders and guided by our strategic planning team at Reflector Lab, our partners in this process, CMTM crafted a revised mission statement, values, and strategic plan to steer our path for the next three years and beyond.
Our refined mission states:
“ At the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine, we set the stage for every child to imagine and learn through play.”