In Silicon Valley, Values Mean More Now than Ever

CTO and Co-Founder Nicole Hu reflects on our mission and values

At One Concern, we take a lot of pride in what we do. We have pride in the technology we’re building and in the partners that have chosen us to help create a more resilient future. But what I’m most proud of, and what I know fuels every success we’ve had and will have as a company, is our team and the culture that makes us who we are.

My co-founders and I founded this business to have huge positive impact, and we are always working toward our goal of realizing planetary-scale resilience, where everyone lives in a safe, sustainable, and equitable world. With aims that high, it’s critical that we have a passionate, capable team that is fully aligned with our mission and values. There’s no better way to achieve that shared vision than to create it together, which is just what we did.

Every one of our employees collaborated diligently to outline the 8 Core Values which define us and our culture as a company. These serve as our North Star and a constant reminder of not just what we do, but why and how we do it. And, because we believe that collaboration and transparency breed trust, I wanted to share those values with you today:

One Concern’s Core Values

Integrity

Our mission is not for sale.

We believe in having the courage to never compromise our mission.

We will always side with doing what’s right — regardless of public opinion, economic opportunity, or peer pressure.

Benevolence

It is through kindness and curiosity, that we find humility.

And by applying benevolence to artificial intelligence, our actions become centered around the value and diversity of human life.

Intelligence

When we combine human knowledge and machine intelligence we can be faster, more versatile, more proactive and more effective.

We augment human knowledge and achievement, not destroy it.

Resilience

We believe in the power of resilience as a positive force in all people’s lives everywhere.

We all come from stories of personal resilience in the face of discrimination or unforeseen tragedies — yet we’ve marched on to overcome these hurdles and become stronger.

We do so, not in spite of these challenges, but because we are inspired by them.

Trust

We believe that collaboration and transparency breed trust that is essential in all relationships, be it with fellow colleagues, customers, or communities.

Our aim is to build enduring trust in the global resilience movement.

Diversity

Diversity is at the heart of One Concern and will be used to not just drive the team we are and we will build, but also represents the only true way of solving resilience.

We believe diversity leads to greater understanding and strengthens innovation and communities.

Our doors will always be open, and we shall lend a helping hand, particularly to those most in need.

Coexistence

Scientific enquiry and expression is at the root of human development, and academic and scientific study of resilience is at the root of One Concern.

We will always build from science, seeking new and better ways to combine artificial and human intelligence for planetary-scale resilience.

Purpose

To drive deep social impact, we must excite and mobilize each other and the world at large with purpose.

We believe there’s a moral obligation to all generations to change the current trajectory and evolve to a place where caring for one another and our planet are intuitively obvious.

There is a renewed interest in businesses that concern themselves with social equity. More venture capital money than ever is going to companies that seek to have a positive social impact, and consumers and employees alike are looking to align themselves with these kinds of brands.

It’s a great trend that we’re happy to be a part of, but we know it will take real work to sustain this positive change. The soul of a business is reflected in its output. Therefore, we must ensure that we embody our values not just with our customers, but in how we treat each other. We’ve assembled a world-class team of talented, intelligent, mission-driven people, and it is my personal aim to create an environment where each of them feels ownership over our company culture, and achieves success by embodying the values we all believe in.

We know that teams (and therefore businesses) thrive when we are all bought into one goal, and are empowered to see that goal come to fruition. I’m thrilled with the work the team has done in defining our Core Values, and can’t wait to see the way they help us drive deep social impact to save lives and livelihoods around the world.

Thank you,

Nicole Hu
CTO & Co-Founder, One Concern, Inc.