Mission Statement

[srawls]

I will preface this by saying I hate to be picky and I hope you don't take offense, but I think I can provide some constructive criticism. I do think you did a very good job, however, especially in concisely describing the mission of FreelanceFIRST.

By providing unique resources, services, and opportunities to teams participating in the FIRST Robotics Competition,

Perhaps we would be providing unique opportunities, but the resources and services provided are not necessarily unique (indeed, many times I imagine they would be resources and services many teams have, but because of lack of funding or whatnot other teams do not). I suggest changing "unique" to "needed."

FreelanceFIRST seeks to engage in a synergistic, self-sustaining effort to promote the goals of the FIRST Robotics Competition and to enrich the emerging culture of FIRST.

First, I would take out self-sustaining. I imagine this effort will require contributions by individuals, teams, and companies. Perhaps one day it could be self-sustaining, but I don’t think that needs to be in the mission statement. Second, FIRST has been around for 12 years now. I can see where you might argue even though FIRST has been around, its culture is only now emerging in a significant way. But even so, FreelanceFIRST might still be around far into the future, and its mission statement should be as applicable then as it is now--so I suggest taking “emerging” out of the statement. Also, I suggest changing the word "culture" to "community." There is a subtle difference in culture and community, and with the changes I make below, I think community is better suited.

We seek to build community by drawing upon the talents and contributions of individuals, to promote Gracious Professionalism, and to act as role models, mentors and friends to all people.

I would argue that a strong FIRST community has already been built. I suggest changing the word to “enrich.” One other point I have is that although it is nice to be “friends to all people,” I think the mission statement should reflect the specific goal of FreelanceFIRST, and that is enriching the FIRST community. So, I suggest changing “all people” to “everyone in FIRST.” Also, with the change I made above, I suggest changing the structure of the list to indicate things we do to "enrich the community." That is, change it to "We seek to enrich the community by drawing upon the talents and contributions of individuals, by promoting Gracious Professionalism, and by acting as role models, mentors, and friends, to everyone in FIRST."

With all my suggestions incorporated, the statement would be:
By providing needed resources, services, and opportunities to teams participating in the FIRST Robotics Competition, FreelanceFIRST seeks to engage in a synergistic effort to promote the goals of the FIRST Robotics Competition and to enrich the FIRST community. We seek to enrich the community by drawing upon the talents and contributions of individuals, by promoting Gracious Professionalism, and by acting as role models, mentors, and friends, to everyone in FIRST.

Thanks for taking the time to write this in the first place!
Stephen