Our values
Every aspect of our work is intended to uplift. Our main goal is to serve others to promote individual, team, and community wellbeing. We believe that self-awareness and personal development leads to collective wellbeing, leaving the world in a better place in a manner we have power over.
- Reciprocity and relationality
- Both parties engaged with respect throughout our work together
- Mentorship of junior colleagues in most of our projects
- Support ethical work with Indigenous communities
- Collaboration
- Transparency in our boundaries, timelines, and skills
- Collaboratively iterating (i.e., no decisions without consultation)
We uphold these values in pursuit of supporting one another, individually and collectively, and in turn creating fulfillment and happiness in our work.
Who we work with
We work relationally, meaning we take the time to build relationships with you and respect the individual perspectives, histories, languages, and experiences of our colleagues, clients, and partners. We are committed to creating respectful and ethical environments where diverse knowledges, identities, and experiences are valued and honoured.
In a wellbeing and health promotion context, we acknowledge the social determinants of health, that non-medical factors – including social policies and political systems – influence health outcomes and can create unfair health inequities.
We expect that all of our clients, colleagues, and partners share these values and reflect respectful and ethical environments in turn.
How we work
Pricing
Our workshops and consultations are priced with equity and decolonization in mind, with non-profits and educational groups priced at a discount from corporate & industry groups. Similarly, non-Indigenous individuals seeking an Indigenous/culturally safety lens on their writing through editing and sensitivity reading can expect to pay a higher fee than general editing. Our pricing also reflects a mentorship and highly collaborative structure, where a team of individuals is working together on your project.
Timelines & our boundaries
It is important to us that we remain adaptable and understanding about individuals’ circumstances and responsibilities, both within our team and externally. Good relations with our family, friends, and communities, as well as maintaining our own personal wellbeing, are central to doing good work in mental health, Indigenous engagement, anti-racism, and efforts towards decolonizing our perspectives and actions.
Our team is currently on our journey to fulfill our goal of full-time freelance work, which we see as a way of decolonizing our labour. However, most of our team currently works a full-time day job. As a result, you can expect that responses from us may take a few days, or even longer if they require a thoughtful response. Ideally, please begin your request two months before your deadline. We will work together to schedule synchronous (face to face, or Zoom) communications at least one or two weeks in advance of the meeting. While we may do last minute/rush editing jobs, we do not do last minute wellbeing-focused or decolonial work, as this meaningful work requires significant thought, collaboration, and good relations within our team to ensure cultural, individual, and psychological safety.
Our team will commit to deadlines and schedules that honour our needs, ensuring we have time away from work for our own wellbeing.
Our team & partners
As a team with founding partners that self-identify as lighter-skinned (white coded) Métis and white settlers, we are aware of our privilege and our responsibility to dismantle neocolonial systems. We are committed to mentoring Indigenous junior colleagues, especially when working in the areas of Indigenous engagement (e.g. Land Acknowledgements workshops) and editing from an Indigenous lens (e.g. sensitivity reading).
As a collective we do not apply for Indigenous-focused grant funding opportunities. We do work as sole proprietors, working collectively under the name Edified Projects. Alicia will take on projects requiring Indigenous representation, and will endeavour to involve Indigenous colleagues and partners wherever possible. We frequently collaborate with Kyle Durocher and Destiny Chalifoux, partners whose communities are Buffalo Lake and Fishing Lake Métis Settlements in Alberta. When we collaborate on a project, all team members – no matter how experienced – are paid the same hourly rate as quoted to you.
Form equal partnership to allow for free collaboration
One of our major motivations to work as sole proprietors collectively under one name is our ability to maintain equity in our own relations with one another. In this way, no person is directing others’ work and we maintain autonomy in our decisions about what work we will contribute to.
What can be shared from our workshops
Slides from our workshops may be shared with you by our team, but we ask that you do not share them more broadly as they are our intellectual property.
How to mention Edified Projects and individual team members in this work
Some of our work – particularly sensitivity editing – is highly sensitive and context-dependent. We do our best work, but we have no control about how you apply what you’ve learned. For our own safety, we ask that you do not name us as individuals in communications with others unless otherwise indicated (for example, where pre-established in a contract or by email approval). You may indicate that you’ve collaborated with Edified Projects.
This is an evolving document, with changes made as we grow and learn.