10th Anniversary Core Values: The Intersection

How our values connect and guide us forward

The whole picture: How our values connect

Over the past weeks, we’ve shared our core values one at a time: Openness, Excellence, Valuing People, Client Focus, Public Benefit. Each essay stood on its own. But here’s what we’ve realized in reflecting on them: they’re not really separate at all.

They’re all different expressions of the same fundamental commitment: to show up fully, to do work that matters, and to do it with people, not just for them.

You can’t have excellence without openness, without the willingness to surface problems early, question assumptions, and say “I don’t know, but let’s figure it out together.”

You can’t truly focus on clients without valuing people, because clients aren’t abstractions or contracts. They’re humans trying to solve hard problems, often under real pressure.

And public benefit ties it all together. It’s the why that makes the how matter. When your goal is to advance science in ways that help people, excellence isn’t optional, relationships aren’t transactional, and openness isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s all connected.

We started Fulcrum with a simple question: Can we do meaningful work with people we really like? Ten years in, the answer is still yes. And if you’ve followed this series, or worked with us as a client, collaborator, teammate, or friend, thank you for helping us live these values, and for holding us accountable to them. Today and every day we are thankful for you.

We’re just getting started. Here’s to the next chapter, together.