Strategic Plan 2006-2011

In 2006 the organization engaged in a comprehensive strategic planning process that consisted of hundreds of hours of in-depth conversations with a wide variety of people personally connected to the Insight Center, or very familiar with our work. We spoke with people willing to not just praise our successes, but also point out our weaknesses and provide informed, insightful, and actionable recommendations to help us plan for the future. Using that input as a guide, the organization made a number of changes designed to build on our expertise, tighten our focus, encourage cross-disciplinary thinking, and raise our profile. The decisions to change our name and organizational structure, and to revise our mission statement, were among the changes that were implemented in response to the strategic plan. Our Five-Year Strategic Plan follows (note that the plan refers to the organization by its former name, NEDLC).

Stakeholder Feedback
The overarching theme of the feedback we received from our stakeholders focused on increasing the organization’s capacity, increasing its impact, and raising its profile. Although not entirely surprising, such “stay the course” (but expand your navigation) themed feedback was encouraging, and is also a testament to our success.

In planning for our future, NEDLC’s stakeholders have asked that we bring our expertise, innovative-thinking and cutting-edge applications into more public view and make our work more accessible to the communities we serve. They want us to maintain our regional focus, but also to develop a stronger national presence, and to assume a greater leadership role in creating systematic change. They want us to become more deliberate about influencing public policy, and expand our influence and impact beyond the non-profit and government sectors to include business and higher education.

Translating Feedback In To Scenarios for the Future
From this thoughtful and in-depth feedback, we developed “scenarios for the future” which described three different paths NEDLC could take to expand our influence and achieve our mission. Each scenario built on different aspects of the organization’s strengths. Each included different opportunities to address our weaknesses, considered the demographic and societal trends that impact our work, as well as the changing needs of the fields in which we focus. Rather than representing comprehensive roadmaps, the scenarios were designed to foster creative discussion and elicit further elaboration and refinement among the staff and Board members.

The fourth scenario which emerged from these discussions brings together the most strategic themes of the three scenarios, combined with new elements based on staff feedback and considerations of relevant demographic, economic and policy trends which impact the working poor. This strategic plan used the most relevant elements of the fourth scenario as a foundation for planning our future.

Turning Inspiration In To Practice
NEDLC will remain true to the first 37-years of its existence and continue to help build a more economically just society. Our work will focus in those areas that are central to building economic health in vulnerable communities.  We will:

• Promote the advancement of low-wage workers, the underemployed, and the underrepresented through industry-focused strategies
  
• Strengthen systems so that children and youth can realize greater economic opportunities in adulthood
  
• Build programs that enable people and communities to acquire and preserve financial and education assets

In the next five years, NEDLC will emerge as a more public and visible advocate of the economic strategies and programs that reduce poverty among a wide range of populations. We will raise our profile and make our work more accessible to a wider range of decision makers and potential colleagues by implementing a variety of focused strategies, including:

• Establishing a versatile collaborative partner network
  
• Approaching our work from a more interdisciplinary perspective
  
• Measuring the impact of our work through an outcomes-based evaluation approach
  
• Increasing our work with policy makers for legislative reform
  
• Including race and ethnicity as an additional lens through which we analyze our work
  
• Placing an increased emphasis on technology and strategic communications

In the following pages you will see an elaboration of the strategies and approaches we will use to ensure that NEDLC continues to work toward our vision of helping to build a nation where all people have access to the resources, opportunities, and services they need to become economically secure.

Mission
Why We Exist
NEDLC is a national research and consulting organization dedicated to building economic health and opportunity in vulnerable communities. We partner with a diverse range of colleagues to develop innovative strategies and programs that result in systemic change and help people become—and remain—economically secure.

Vision
What We Seek to Achieve
NEDLC envisions a nation where all people have access to the resources, opportunities and services they need to become economically secure. In order for this vision to be realized, individuals and communities must have sufficient income, quality education throughout their lives, decent and affordable housing and health care, a safe environment, and savings and other economic assets.

Guiding Values
What We Believe
Our history of achievement and our promise for the future is grounded in our commitment to building a more economically just society.  These are the values that guide us as we work toward this vision:

• Equity:  People who work should not have to live in poverty, and people who cannot work should have support.
  
• Respect:  All people deserve to be treated with respect.
  
• Empowerment: People must have the tools and resources they need to take an active and informed role in creating positive change in their lives and communities.
  
• Innovation:  Today's complex economic and social problems require an approach that is multidisciplinary and integrated.
  
• Inclusiveness:  A diverse and inclusive workplace and economy is essential to realizing opportunity for all people.
  
• Integrity:  A strategic, inquiring, and informed perspective promotes high standards of quality and objectivity.
  
• Collaboration:  Lasting economic opportunity is created when government, business, nonprofits and communities work together.
  
• Knowledge Sharing:  Sustainable development of vulnerable communities requires building and sharing collective knowledge.

NEDLC’s Five-Year Program Priorities
The Focus of Our Work
In order to increase our effectiveness, we have identified three areas in which to concentrate our work:

1. Promote the advancement of low-wage workers, the underemployed, and the under-represented through industry-focused strategies
   
2. Strengthen systems so that children and youth are positioned for greater economic opportunities in adulthood.  
   
3. Build programs that enable people and communities to acquire, accumulate, and preserve financial and educational assets.

We have established two priorities within each of these three program focus areas and several strategies for supporting those goals. Over the course of the next five years, our program focus and priorities will remain constant while our strategies may change depending on the findings of our applied research, the results of our outcome-based program evaluations, and the changing environment. Each year, we will modify existing goals and create new ones that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-specific (S.M.A.R.T) associated with each of the concentration areas listed below:

1. Program Focus Area: Promote the advancement of low-wage workers, the underemployed, and the underrepresented through industry-focused strategies.
   
   Priority A: Increase the number and capacity of industry-focused initiatives and the organizations that lead them.
   Strategies to support this goal:
   
   • Building and supporting a national network of organizations engaged in industry-focused strategies.
   • Promoting policies and practices that encourage industry-focused strategies.
   Priority B: Identify industry-focused strategies for serving particularly vulnerable populations.
   Strategies to support this goal:
   
   • Promoting and developing program models to serve ex-felons, immigrants and those with limited English proficiency.
   • Removing systems barriers that prevent vulnerable populations from working in certain industries.
     
     
2. Program Focus Area: Strengthen systems so that children and youth can realize greater economic opportunities in adulthood.
   
   Priority A: Promote a high-quality, affordable, accessible and integrated early care and education system. 
   Strategies to support this goal:
   
   • Linking the early care and education system to economic development.
   • Removing barriers to building and maintaining community-based, high-quality early care and education facilities. 
   Priority B: Connect those in the foster care systems and/or criminal justice systems to opportunities that allow them to become economically secure as adults.
   Strategies to support this goal:
   
   • Removing barriers and improving access to employment training resources.
   • Strengthening family and work support services.
     
     
3. Program Focus Area: Build programs that enable people and communities to acquire, accumulate, and preserve financial and educational assets.
   
   Priority A: Strengthen systems that allow people to gain income and manage finances.
   Strategies to support this goal:
   
   • Redefining the standards by which poverty is measured in California to reflect the actual costs of working and raising a family. 
   • Advocating for training, education, and supportive services for low-wage workers and the underemployed.
   • Promoting financial services that are affordable, accessible and culturally appropriate.
   • Promoting alternative transportation strategies that improve access to economic opportunities.
   Priority B: Expand effective and culturally appropriate models to develop individual and community assets.
   Strategies to support this goal:
   
   • Strengthening the voice of experts of color in the national asset policy dialogue.
   • Improving and expanding saving strategies to reach a substantial portion of the population.
   • Promoting and developing program design and policy models to grow minority businesses.
   • Facilitating the investment of private capital that benefits low-income communities.
   • Providing and increasing legal and operational support to community organizations.
     

NEDLC Key Programmatic Strategies

How We Achieve Our Mission
In all three of NEDLC’s areas of concentration, we strive to improve systems, policies and practices.  We do this by: 

• Building infrastructure;
  
• Research, analysis, and development;
  
• Advocacy, communication, and dissemination. 

We see these strategies as those that leverage our 37-year legacy and increase our capacity to enable people to be economically secure.

Building Infrastructure

• Building networks and learning communities
• Building the capacity of local intermediaries and individual organizations

Research, Analysis & Development

• Conducting research to inform decision-makers
• Informing foundations, government and business about best practices and cutting-edge strategies
• Incubating programs locally and replicating successful strategies nationally

Advocacy, Communication & Dissemination

• Disseminating information through clearinghouses, conferences and trainings
• Developing advocacy tools and strategies
• Publishing research in formats that reach a diverse audience (e.g., white papers, toolkits, case studies, etc.)
  

Annual Program Outcome Reviews
The Measure of Our Progress
Our goal of creating systemic change is ambitious, and requires that our work be held to extremely high standards of effectiveness. Each year we will measure the success of our program efforts using outcome-based evaluation strategies. We will look for both quantitative and qualitative changes to monitor our effectiveness. This annual outcome review process will serve as our internal guide for developing goals and strategies for subsequent years.

Five Year Operational Overviews
The Foundation to Support our Work
In order to achieve our mission, NEDLC recognizes that we must maintain an effective operational infrastructure necessary to support our programs. We see five operational components that serve as our internal foundation: strategic communication and outreach, appropriate technology, successful fund development, proactive human resource management and effective financial management.

Communication

• NEDLC’s organizational brand identity (which includes our name, logo, tagline, graphics, as well as the way we talk and write about our work), will be established and consistently communicated in all mediums.
  
• NEDLC will strategically use communications to advance our mission, and to raise our profile among key stakeholders including funders, economic development colleagues, policy makers, business leaders, academics and the press.
  
• NEDLC’s communication strategies will make full use of the growing technology options that span traditional media and internet based communication.
  
• Internal communication among program areas, projects and initiatives will be continuous and will reinforce and strengthen the inter-disciplinary and collaborative approaches we take in our work.

Information Technology

• NEDLC will maintain technology that supports ease of communication and collaboration internally and will extend this capability to the colleagues and organizations with whom we partner.  
  
• NEDLC’s website will serve as a portal for sharing dynamic, up-to-date information on our programs and research, and for self-sufficiency tools that will empower vulnerable individuals and communities.
  
• NEDLC’s internal technology systems will be structured to support sophisticated collaboration tools that allow staff, management and board members access to secure workspaces to review and edit documents, financials, and internal databases.

Development

• NEDLC’s development will further the activities and mission of the organization, ensuring financial stability and promoting long-term growth.
  
• NEDLC will create a coordinated set of diverse fundraising activities that will be updated annually.
  
• NEDLC staff will develop strategic relationships to increase funding.
  
• NEDLC’s development, program and finance staff will coordinate efforts to ensure timely report submission and payment by funders. 

Human Resources

• NEDLC will develop and maintain internal policies and procedures to recruit and retain a diverse staff.
  
• Employee professional development will form a core strategy for promoting continuous learning to develop and retain a highly talented and motivated staff.
  
• Collaborators, partner organizations, consultants and staff will participate in orientation programs to understand and support NEDLC’s operational culture, values, and vision.

Financial Management

• NEDLC will develop and maintain a state of the art accounting and financial office providing high quality information and services to the staff, management, clients, providers and others.
  
• NEDLC will provide enhanced financial reporting systems, budget monitoring, internal control function and policies and procedures to ensure financial stability and promote long-term growth.

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