Strategic planning is important for every organization and business because it acts as a roadmap to what you want to accomplish.

JLRV went through a strategic planning process in 2015-2016. This year, it was time to update our strategic plan.

AJLI rolled out a new bootcamp for leagues across the globe. In August, a team of eight current board and management team members started the bootcamp made up of webinars and direct feedback on what we were doing. Through December, the team had meetings, phone calls and emails as we looked through membership data, surveys and community information.

The board approved the JLRV 2020-2024 Strategic Plan and presented it to membership at the January GMM.

There are 4 goals we will work towards over the coming years:
● JLRV grows its membership to 500 and increases retention numbers
● JLRV is recognized as developing leaders through our increased community involvement and influence including but not limited to non-profit boards and committees and public office
● Develop and implement a meaningful, impactful and measurable plan to address the JLRV focus of “Addressing poverty by connecting the community to existing barriers to healthcare and food”
● Diversify revenue and income streams of the JLRV and reduce burden on membership

“I’ve recognized that even on top of what we have already achieved for our community that we still have many more opportunities to make an even greater impact in the years ahead,” said Michelle Pendleton, Finance Vice President. “I’m looking forward to seeing the implementation of our ideas for financial growth which will positively impact both our membership and community. It's so easy to become complacent in both our personal and professional lives, so opportunities to re-examine the League’s strengths and opportunities will solidify our organization’s longevity.”

Now, a team is working through a similar AJLI led process to develop an annual plan that should be finalized over the summer.

The annual plan plots the path to achieve the strategic goals and accomplish the work of the JLRV. A team of next year’s Management Team and Governance Board members started that bootcamp in January and will work through June.

The Strategic and Annual Planning process also has the ability to uncover policies and procedures that may not be working anymore and how we can update those to better reflect our current membership and what we are trying to accomplish as a league. We also found some information that enables us to be in an even stronger financial position than we were previously, and we will be able to put even more money back into supporting the League’s mission in the future.

“I truly believe that by taking the time to update our strategic and annual plans, we will be a larger, stronger, even more effective League that will be able to take our community impact to the next level. I can’t wait to see what we all can accomplish in the next few years,” said Katie Jones, Executive Vice President-Elect.

The exciting part is these are working documents so in the coming months and years, the next league leaders will be updating these as we work towards our goals!

“I enjoyed looking at our League’s progress from a multi-year perspective. Seeing how far we’ve come and imagining how far we can go is so inspiring,” said Lydia Higgs, Member-at-Large.

Strategic Plan Team:
Jenna Zibton McFarland – President(team leader)
Katie Jones – Executive VP
Lutheria Smith – Sustainer and Past President
Lydia Higgs – Member-at-Large
Jessie Coffman – Executive VP-Elect
Ginger Poole Avis – Fund Development VP and Past President
Michelle Pendleton – Finance VP
Laura Conte – Administrative VP
Annual Plan Team:
Katie Jones – Executive VP  (team leader)
Jenna Zibton McFarland – President
Kate Hailey – President-Elect
Margaret Ashburn – Secretary
Jessie Beemer – Fund Development VP
Jessie Coffman – Executive VP-Elect
Michelle Pendleton – Treasurer
Sarah M. Johnson – Communications VP
Elizabeth Milne – Membership VP
Lauren Boswell – Finance VP

By: Jenna Zibton McFarland