How Mission Statements Can Reflect the Inherent Worth of Every Person
Your business is more than a business—it’s a reflection of what you believe about the human person.
In today’s economy, mission statements often revolve around market disruption, innovation, or growth. While these are valid goals, a deeper, faith-rooted mission calls us to start from a different place: the intrinsic dignity of the human person.
Why Human Dignity Belongs in Your Mission Statement
Businesses shape culture, influence families, and affect the way people view themselves. That’s why Catholic social teaching places such importance on the dignity of every individual—from the factory floor to the boardroom.
When your mission statement reflects this truth, you:
Elevate your brand beyond transactions
Inspire teams to see their work as vocation
Attract customers, investors, and employees aligned with a deeper purpose
Questions to Help You Reflect
Does your mission statement affirm the value of people beyond their productivity?
Does it guide decisions toward what’s right—not just what’s profitable?
Could someone read your mission and see a vision that includes them?
Example: The Dignity-First Pivot – Storybook App
Before: Many wellness apps focus on performance metrics—better sleep, lower stress, improved productivity. But the Storybook App, founded by Francisco Cornejo, took a different approach.
Their mission?
“To create meaningful, screen-free bedtime moments that strengthen the bond between parents and children.”
This statement centers human dignity and emotional connection as the heart of the product. It reframes bedtime not as a routine to optimize, but as an opportunity for love, presence, and healing.
This dignity-first mindset transformed the business:
Their content focuses on emotional well-being, not just utility.
They offer guided meditations and stories that promote bonding, rooted in empathy and trust.
The app is screen-free by design, safeguarding the sacredness of the parent-child relationship.
They’ve expanded access globally, with a focus on serving underserved families who need emotional and spiritual support the most.
This mission-driven model led Storybook App to win the SENT Pitch Competition at the 2024 SENT Summit, where founders pitched purpose-driven companies to a panel of Catholic investors and leaders.
Storybook is now used by families in over 150 countries and continues to grow not just as a business, but as a mission to protect what matters most.
