Vertical Optimization. LLC is committed to responsible corporate citizenship and views it as being of equal value to its financial mission. Vertical Optimization, LLC exists to serve people. To that end, it measures its impact not just in terms of the value it brings to its shareholders but also the value it brings to its customers, neighbors, associates, competitors, and broader community. In other words, corporate social responsibility is an integral element of the corporate character and culture. These values are defined and outlined in the following:

1. Vertical Optimization, LLC shall be known and operated as an open, honest, earnest, ethical and people-centered business entity. This shall be measured by the number, duration, content and health of its business associations with customers, partners, competitors, affiliates and neighbors at large.
2. Vertical Optimization, LLC and its affiliates shall work to support small enterprises that create good quality products and services the world over. Vertical Optimization, LLC shall provide affordable, sustainable, and scalable services to its small business clients to spur their growth. This shall be measured by the ability of its clients to access productive capacity and markets that might otherwise not be available to them. The number and impact of these interventions (on both sides of the transaction bridge) shall be the primary metric of the company’s success.
3. Vertical Optimization, LLC shall endeavor in every product development or enterprise development effort to reduce its environmental footprint and that of its clients and associates. It shall do so by always balancing the enthalpic needs of a business effort with the ecologic impact of such effort. Where there is a conflict, the balance shall tilt in the direction of the option which serves the greater number of people or assists a larger fraction of the populace in the direction of self-sufficiency.
4. Vertical Optimization, LLC shall itself operate – and drive its clients and associates to operate - in a manner that recognizes workplace safety as a basic expression of human care. This shall be reflected in its product design, enterprise development and operations management practices. The company shall also convey these practices in its pedagogy and outreach efforts. Given that ‘safety is no accident’, Vertical Optimization, LLC shall emphasize excellent design and even better operation in all its development efforts.
5. Vertical Optimization, LLC works in many developing economies and rural communities around the world, with very small companies. The firm is keenly aware of its own egalitarian heritage, and sees the equity and dignity of its clients and customers as critical elements of the transaction. The firm is firmly committed to ‘fair trade’ not as a mantra or product label but as a basic practice of any responsible business. It defines ‘fair trade as behavior that creates a transaction – and transaction climate - between parties in which both party’s short-term objectives are met AND they are BOTH willing and happy to explore further deepening of that transactional relationship’.
6. Vertical Optimization, LLC does not view ‘diversity’ as end in and of itself. It views diversity in all its hues (social, cultural, educational, religious, gender, cognitive, experiential, perceptual, and so on) as necessary for its effective operation in the various localities and circumstances in which it operates. The firm is fully committed to hiring and partnering in a manner that reflects this necessity, and its heritage as a people-centered business entity.
7. Vertical Optimization, LLC views entrepreneurial citizenship as a basic human right. The firm shall always strive to support people (and groups thereof) seeking to improve their circumstance by way of legitimate private enterprise. It shall do so by providing affordable services, and where necessary and feasible, leveraging its relationships to reaffirm and support entrepreneurial citizenship even in those instances where there is no immediate financial reward.
8. Vertical Optimization, LLC views quality management and productivity improvement as integral elements of corporate social responsibility. While the former reduces waste on the customer side of the transaction, the latter reduces waste on the provider side. Vertical Optimization, LLC views these as necessary and complementary elements that reduce the environmental footprint AND increase the profitability (both financial and ecological) of a business operation. This shall be reflected in its design, development and management services and operations
9. Vertical Optimization, LLC shall obey the laws of the countries and localities in which it operates.
10. Vertical Optimization, LLC shall not operate in any country or jurisdiction which laws force the company to operate in a manner that violates its ethics or compromises its values.

Adopted on the 9^th of June, 2006. Washington, DC.