## Citizenship

Joyous was founded in order to make a positive difference on a global scale.

Our purpose is **making life better for people at work**.

Our [Founders' Charter](https://app.graphcms.com/founders-charter), which has never changed, highlights how we pursue that purpose, including our **four intents** related to citizenship:

- Create an **iconic** New Zealand headquartered business: sustainable, global and economically significant.
- Be **caring** about each other, our shared values and our planet.
- Make life **exceptionally good** for the **people of Joyous**.
- Structure the business to **stay true** to its purpose over time.

## OUR PEOPLE SET THE AGENDA

Joyous is defined by its people. Literally. Our people together determine our values, our ways-of-working and our citizenship agenda.

- **Make The World Better.** Joyous is purpose-driven and people at Joyous are empowered to move things in the right direction.
- **Make Joyous Better.** Together the people of Joyous decide what we want Joyous to be.
- **Make Yourself Better.** The people of Joyous learn and grow faster than they could elsewhere.

We've structured this document around the common categories of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) with the addition of a section focused on People working at Joyous and their experience.

## ENVIRONMENT

- We target net zero carbon emissions and are using an assessment tool ([Pathzero](https://www.pathzero.com/)) to track our emissions and work towards net-zero certification.
- We incorporate energy efficiency measures in all areas of business activity. This includes the selection of premises, cloud infrastructure providers and travel reduction.
- We promote environmental responsibility among employees, customers, suppliers, investors and other partners.
- We minimise waste, promote recycling and support the use of recycled products to help reduce the amount of waste.

## SOCIAL

- We **prioritise based on our purpose**. Does it make life better for people at work?
- We put effort into developing best practices then **share and promote the outputs within the business community** to help improve the society we live in. Recent examples include our [Parental Journey](https://joyoushq.com/blog/post/parental-journey-challenge-mike-story) benefit and [Joyfully](https://joyoushq.com/download-joyfully).
- We work actively to help support people transitioning into a career in tech from other industries, with a particular focus on women, Māori, Pasifika, and other underrepresented people through [Pathways](/content/pathways/index.html).
- We research and develop questions sets that encourage dialogue around important topics, and we **open source** that research so that it is available to others to use.
- We believe in the **power of conversation**, for everyone. We empower our customers to be **inclusive** by promoting low-reading age English and the use of other languages (including **Te reo Māori**).
- We identify and work with **like-minded companies** focused on making a positive difference, for example by helping transition people from diverse backgrounds into tech (Enspiral and Matchstiq), building Māori Cultural Competency (Te Kaa) or reducing carbon footprint (Pathzero).
- We encourage development of new social initiatives sponsored by Joyous.

## GOVERNANCE

- Our people **together determine our values**, our ways-of-working and our citizenship agenda.
- We believe in **shared leadership** as a model to encourage **opportunities for growth**, and structure the business accordingly (fewer larger functions).
- Across all stakeholders (including **employees, suppliers, customers and investors**) we consider **values and citizenship** in choosing who we work with, and expect high standards of **ethical business conduct** per our [Code of Conduct](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nHRcZYDSAdpZeHInzFTHaQwIhf088EXumouFSpoI7Xw/edit?usp=sharing).

## PEOPLE

- We try hard to ensure **fairness** in compensation, recognition and opportunities for growth.
- Everyone should be **comfortable** sharing their ideas and being themselves at Joyous.
- Joyous people **learn and grow** faster than they could elsewhere.
- Joyous people have the time needed to deliver quality results, with a good balance between work and other aspects of their lives.
- We genuinely care about each other, provide support and ensure that everyone is safe.
- We use **Joyous** to ensure a regular cadence of conversations about the topics that help Joyous become a better place to work and to make an increasingly positive contribution to our world.