The Mission
The mission of TeamWorks International is to build and maintain lasting relationships through service. We provide an outlet for leadership and innovation to community members worldwide in order to strengthen education, health care, vocational training, infrastructure development and environmental preservation; allowing others' needs to direct our action.
The Adventure of Serving
TeamWorks is an organization dedicated to the betterment of the world. Tackling roots issues
behind poverty is not an easy job and it requires both a long-term commitment to persevere and
high amounts of cultural sensitivity. There are many organizations in the world that pour
incredible amounts of resources and vast sums of money into community development but with
little results. Our strategy for positively impacting the lives of people comes from careful
monitoring of similarly focused organizations to see what works and what doesn't. For this reason,
we operate under the following two premises:
Relationships are the most important
What is going to leave the biggest impact after each trip is not what building was built or
service was provided, but the personal connection that is made. By knowing that someone
in a foreign country cares deeply and genuinely about them, individuals in the communities
served experience a greater sense of self-determination and responsibility for their lives.
Work is done with people and not for people
TeamWorks International does not seek to start any new projects, but rather to come along
side those people in the communities who are already doing work. This concept of "helping
others help themselves" is vital to the longevity and success of projects. By empowering
individuals to change their communities and then connecting them with the necessary resources
to make it happen, people are left with a sense of ownership for the work that is being done
and will continue it even when the teams are not there.
Additional Principles
Seventh Generation is a precept of the Great Law of the Haudensaunee (Six Nations Iroquois
Confederacy), which requires that chiefs consider the impact of their decisions on the seventh
generation. TeamWorks asks the same question of our work, striving continually toward the ideals
of social, economic and environmental sustainability.
The Bus Test is one of the ways that Seventh Generation plays out on a daily basis within
TeamWorks. It goes like this, "If the CEO gets hit by a bus today, is there someone within
TeamWorks who can step in and do his or her job?" The Bus Tests asks this question not just
of every individual within the organization, but of the organization itself. "If TeamWorks were
to disappear from a country, would the project there continue on?" To answer this question
honestly--and to make sure that the answer is "yes"--there must be a continual emphasis on
promoting ownership by all people participating in the work that is done.