Today, I want to share the new Sjogren’s Foundation Vision statement and highlight the changes to the Mission statement.

As you may know, I am the current Chair of the Board of the Sjogren’s Foundation and a patient living with Sjogren’s disease. It is a privilege to represent the patient voice, and an honor to work alongside the amazing staff and other board members who fight for “us” daily. We worked hard to create the new mission and vision statements that speak volumes in a handful of words. Together, the statements are incredibly powerful and will embolden the Board of Directors and Staff of the Sjogrens Foundation to achieve even more for us — the patient.

Why a New Sjogren’s Foundation Vision Statement and Update Mission?

You may be asking, what is a mission and vision? A mission statement is simply what you DO. Really good missions address who you are doing it for (for example, Sjogren’s Patients) and clarify (to some degree) how you will achieve the mission. A vision statement is more about where you are going and is often aspirational or “visionary”. Every successful organization has a clear mission and vision to act as their North Star. As an organization matures, a mission and/or vision may be updated to ensure the North Star is still shining bright.

There has been an evolution in what is known about Sjogren’s from all arenas: patients, medical professionals, researchers, and pharmaceutical companies. I believe much of this growth is due to the amazing work of the Sjogren’s Foundation . It was time to update the mission statement. The planning committee (which I was a part of) and the staff worked hard to develop a new vision and update our mission statement. Now they better reflect the current state of the Foundation’s work and future goals to change the face of Sjogren’s.

The Sjogren’s Foundation’s Mission

The new Mission Statement for the Sjogren’s Foundation is similar to the previous one, with a few tweaks.

The Sjogren’s Foundation Mission Statement is to:

• Support Sjögren’s patients and their loved ones through education, resources and services
• Provide credible resources and education for healthcare professionals  
• Serve as the voice for all Sjögren’s patients through advocacy and awareness initiatives
• Encourage and fund innovative research projects to better understand, diagnose and treat Sjögren’s

The updated mission keeps the core values of our previous mission while now including our work in advocacy, professional resource development and patient programs. This mission better addresses the work that needs to be done to advance the “state of Sjögren’s”.

The New Sjogren’s Foundation Vision Statement

And the Sjogren’s Foundation Vision Statement is:

To create a community where patients, healthcare professionals and researchers come together to conquer the complexities of Sjögren’s.

The new mission and vision statements emphasize the foundation’s commitment to patients while acknowledging that one of the more challenging aspects of having this disease, is the COMPLEXITY it presents.

And this brings me back to the title of this post, “Why I Love the New Sjogren’s Foundation Vision Statement. First and foremost, it’s the word COMPLEXITY. Our disease is medically complex — we require a lot of doctors to just manage our symptoms . Our disease is emotionally complex — change in quality of life impacts every emotion! Secondly, our Vision statement is sincere and attainable. It is everyone’s hope to find a cure for Sjogren’s. However, a cure is too lofty of a dream to be an effective vision. Conquering complexities can really accomplish a lot to help us improve the quality of our life daily and is realistic vision to inspire us all.

Above all, I hope you see the power in the Sjogren’s Foundation Vision Statement. Our vision and mission are strong, all-encompassing and sincere and I believe our North Star is shining bright!

And sure, we can still hope for the creation of a magic pill or a clear path to a cure!