core values
how we approach our services
A Letter from Our Education Director
Dear Colleagues,
COCD is guided by the core values of development, holistic support, multiculturalism, and accountability because they provide a clear moral and strategic compass for our organization. These values shape how we design programs, interact with students, and measure success. Together, they ensure that our work remains focused on empowering individuals, strengthening communities, and achieving outcomes that are both meaningful and sustainable. By anchoring our mission in these principles, we align daily actions with long-term purpose.
Human capacity development is our first core value because we believe that every individual possesses the potential to grow, learn, and lead when given the right opportunities. Development means investing in skills, knowledge, and critical thinking so students can adapt to changing circumstances and pursue their aspirations with confidence. Rather than offering short-term solutions, we focus on building lasting capabilities that enable students to shape their own futures.
Holistic student support reflects our understanding that learning does not occur in isolation from life circumstances. Financial strain, unmet healthcare needs, and other external pressures can become powerful inhibitors to academic success. By addressing these challenges directly, we create conditions in which students can fully engage in learning. This comprehensive approach recognizes students as whole people and removes barriers that might otherwise prevent them from reaching their potential.
We also affirm multiculturalism as a core value because diverse perspectives enrich learning environments and strengthen collective understanding. Respectful engagement across cultures fosters empathy, innovation, and collaboration. At the same time, we are clear that multiculturalism does not include or excuse practices that cause harm, maim, or result in death. Our commitment is to cultural respect that upholds human dignity, safety, and well-being for all.
Accountability is essential to empowering students to take ownership of their own goals, building self-efficacy. We hold students accountable not as a form of punishment, but as a means of reinforcing responsibility, self-discipline, and personal agency. By setting clear expectations and supporting students in meeting them, we help individuals track progress, learn from setbacks, and remain committed to the objectives they have defined for themselves.
Together, these core values shape every aspect of our work and define how we serve our community. Development builds capacity, holistic support removes barriers, multiculturalism strengthens understanding, and accountability sustains progress. When applied collectively, they ensure that our organization remains focused on ethical action, meaningful impact, and the long-term success of those we serve.
Dr. Jessica Ashe, MBA, MA
Education Director
Guiding principles
COCD holistically develops individual human capacity in an effort to raise immigrant families’ life trajectories. In doing so, COCD elevates our entire community. This is purposeful, in order to combat the only root source of poverty under our control: individual habits and choices.
We remove learning inhibitors such as financial worry, access to healthcare and childcare and others, to the extent possible. We understand that people do not leave their lives outside of a classroom; they carry their burdens inside no matter where they are. So, in addition to academic support and support for situational/external concerns, we explicitly support personality development, conflict resolution skills, math for life and workplace expectations.
People come from diverse backgrounds to COCD. We treat all cultures and individuals with equal respect, providing opportunities for participation for all in our programs. Staff, volunteers and students value the unique contributions and histories of all groups that do not infringe on another’s personhood. We have open minds about tolerance about another’s customs. This core value builds stronger, more inclusive communities by fostering a sense of belonging for everyone.
We hold students to their word. If they commit to attending a class, we have empathy for “life happenings”, and systems in place to compensate for a small number of missed days. However, without a serious life event, students who sign a contract are expected to follow through on that promise. They have a goal; we hold them accountable to achieving their goal.