As the global economy has struggled to recover from the crash of 2008, Bermuda has faced decisions about how to balance social priorities with measures needed to stabilise our economy.From my perspective, the greatest threat to our economic stability is unaddressed family-based problems that lead to unhealthy child development and create an unsustainable negative impact on civil society.I am Executive Director of Family Centre, a Bermuda charity initially founded in 1990 as The Learning Centre with the purpose of engaging students who were falling through the cracks at school and in society.It is a great honour for me to be invited to participate in the SAGE Commission. I believe I was invited to chair the Commission’s Performance Committee because Family Centre has always advocated for the importance of concrete, outcome-based goals and objectives connected to efforts that address social concerns.My committee is charged with identifying operational improvements aimed at cost effectiveness and improved service quality, which may include shared services, enhanced use of Information Technology and changes in service delivery mechanisms.It may seem that improved service delivery and sensitivity to social needs are mutually exclusive, but I believe the two are critically linked.I know from working with family systems that groups of people require certain things in order to make progress with complicated problems. Any co-operative process is strengths-based and builds upon the best qualities and strengths that people have. Self-discipline and austerity are necessary but lasting solutions cannot be achieved by creating victims.The Learning Centre was established to help prevent young people from ending up without a proper place in society. As we came to better understand the people that we were serving, the organisation’s mandate evolved. We realised that many were suffering from emotional and behavioural problems that were preventing them from making progress in school and in society.As we transitioned to what is now Family Centre, we recognised that many of the families we were servicing therapeutically had a multi-generational pattern of disadvantage that had led to a chronic state of crisis.We also learned how to become advocates for the most vulnerable people. That advocacy work pushed us to analyse the root causes of chronic family problems more deeply. The most consistent story that underlies issues of child neglect, abuse, addiction and other similar problems is unaddressed trauma that has often passed from generation to generation.My experience with the evolution of Family Centre taught me how important it is to reveal underlying causes rather than focus merely on symptoms.As we repair our economy, we must also rebuild the good character and trust that bind us together as a community. The recommendations from the Performance Committee, and from the SAGE Commission, will include setting a new tone for working together for the benefit of the whole.Our blueprint for a more efficient and accountable government will also detail the effective performance systems and services that nurture and sustain our community’s well-being.My SAGE Commission colleagues have diverse backgrounds and I rely on them to offer alternative views that complement and balance one another. It is encouraging to be part of a Government-sponsored effort that is solution-focused, transparent and self-critical.I believe that Bermuda can be an example of sustainable prosperity that is distinguished by the fairness and good character of our people and practices. That is an ideal worth struggling for.The inclusive process established by the SAGE Commission feels like a step in the right direction to me.