Strategic Planning
When teams need stronger foundations
Our strategic planning accompaniments are collaborative, participatory processes designed to clarify long-term direction and chart a clear path towards it.
Together, we take stock of organizational strengths and untapped opportunities, and co-create a compelling vision, mission, guiding principles, strategic priorities, and aligned goals and strategies. The resulting strategy is measurable, impactful, and easily translated into concrete action plans.
Without strategy, organizations can feel like leaves in the wind, reacting to whatever comes their way without a clear sense of where they want to create change. Yet overly rigid or top-down plans quickly become outdated as new insights emerge, or fall flat because the people doing the work weren’t included and therefore aren’t fully “bought in.”
Throughout the process, we build capacity and collective ownership, ensuring teams not only understand the strategy but feel confident stewarding it and able to adapt as new insights, conditions, and opportunities emerge. A learning and evaluation framework is woven into the work, supporting reflection, iteration, learning and course-correction as you move forward.
What it typically includes
Formation of a strategic planning core team across staff and board
A participatory engagement process with staff, board, and relevant partners, members, or service users to surface strengths, opportunities, and aspirational directions (e.g., by means of retreats, surveys, focus groups, and/or interviews)
Co-development and refinement of the strategic plan with the core team, including vision, mission, guiding principles, strategic priority areas, and goals and strategies for the next 3–5 years
Strategic coaching to support buy-in and integration across the organization, ensuring operational workplans reflect strategic priorities
A learning and evaluation framework to track progress, generate insight, and support adaptive decision-making
What shifts as a result?
Greater clarity of purpose and direction, enabling more effective and impactful organizations
More intentional allocation of time, energy, and resources toward areas of greatest potential impact
Strong alignment between high-level strategy and day-to-day operations
Shared ownership and commitment to the strategic plan across staff and leadership
Increased capacity to operate as a learning organization that is equipped for adapting, evolving, and staying relevant over time
“Thank you, Rehana, for your talent, energy, patience, and masterful facilitation. You created the soil for real growth - holding a group of turbulent storytellers with such care and presence. You listened to each of us so fully and had a remarkable ability to weave our voices together into something both creatively strengthening and organizationally clarifying. There is a unique quality to the way you facilitate; you truly move energy. I feel deeply grateful for the shared experience and genuinely energized by what emerged.”
— Documentary Organization of Canada Board, Strategic Planning