Strategic Planning

Effective strategic planning is an inclusive and collaborative process focused on achieving better results.  It helps organizations embrace a positive and a pragmatic vision, guides strategy development and inspires everyone.  Simply said, if staff and board members are stuck in a routine, more focused on outputs than outcomes, an effective strategic planning process can shake that up.

The Community Building Institute (CBI) has worked with large urban school systems and medium-sized nonprofits to develop plans that include strategy, positioning, action and change. Information on our work with large communities can be found here.  Our work with nonprofits can be found below.

Coalition for Community Schools.  CBI led a strategic planning process that helped leaders, partners, and staff build a 2007-2014 Strategic Plan which defined an arc of growth that has, in part, already been realized.

Columbia Heights Education Campus.  Bell Multicultural High School and Lincoln Middle School, co-located in a shared building, were asked to merge as a turnaround strategy for Lincoln.  Potapchuk facilitated a strategic planning process that included teachers, administrators, community members, and youth.  The schools have successfully merged.

Detroit Parent Network.  The Community Building Institute and KSA-Plus Communications are currently working with the Detroit Parent Network to develop a citywide parent leadership development and engagement plan.

DC Children and Youth Investment Trust.  Potapchuk and Margaret Yao facilitated staff retreats and board working sessions to clarify direction and improve outcomes. This led into focused sessions around develop collaborative strategies for summer programming, coordinating after school activities and aligning investments with other city efforts such as youth violence prevention.

National Center for Community Schools.  CBI president William Potapchuk led a strategic planning effort for this project of the Children’s Aid Society, helping to forge a new identity, address issues of growth, and strengthen team work.

Pre-K Now.  The Community Building Institute helped PreK-Now define the second phase of the initiative’s work and target resources more effectively.

Race Matters Institute. Race Matters Institute is a new entity created to extend the impact of the Annie E. Casey Foundations Race Matters Toolkit and broaden it to a national initiative focused on structural racism.  Potapchuk helped the partners work on issues in the business plan and develop a strategy designed to better utilize the strengths of its partners.

Potapchuk has also facilitated strategic thinking sessions designed to tackle specific opportunities and challenges for organizations such as the Community Foundation of the National Capitol Region, DC VOICE, American Association of School Administrators, National Association of Secondary School Principals, the DC Education Compact, and many others.