Partners for Impact has worked on two projects with Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina. Working with a small committee of the Board, consultants have supported the Board’s transition to a policy governance model with the design and implementation of Governance Policies. Partners for Impact helped with a strategic planning process that has resulted in a new vision, mission and strategic framework.

Client:

Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina (PCANC)

Services Provided:

Planning and Design, Professional and Team Development

The Problem/Challenge:

Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina (PCANC) had grown in the past several years and developed a strong leadership team. This new growth and expertise poised the organization to create a new strategic plan. The board of directors was also moving toward a governance role and were grappling with how to establish accountability and identify the role of the CEO.

Our Process:

Partners for Impact facilitated the development of a strategic plan. One of the highlights of the plan was the use of listening sessions across the State Of North Carolina to gather diverse ideas about PCANC’s direction. In addition, Partners for Impact worked with the Executive Committee to develop policies that govern the board’s actions and activities.

End Result:

A strategic plan with strong organizational goals that enabled the organization to adapt during COVID by utilizing the board of directors in a governance role and allowing the Excecutive Director the ability to realize organizational goals and objectives.

Continued Success:

The combination of the strategic plan and the board governance policies enabled the staff leadership to be nimble as COVID emerged in North Carolina.

 

Case:

Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina (PCANC) is a statewide nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that all children grow up in safe, stable, nurturing families and communities. They prioritize child maltreatment prevention and make sure that all communities have the knowledge support and resources to prevent child abuse and neglect. PCANC invests in prevention by supporting and scaling evidence-based programs grounded in implementation science and best practices; building community through partnership engagement and communications; and, through a commitment to policies supporting children and families across the state.

Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina (PCANC) issued an RFP for strategic planning and for improving their board governance. Partners for Impact received the contract for the work and co-created a process that met the needs of all the stakeholders involved in the process. Like many of our strategic planning projects, Partners for Impact encouraged PCANC to have a committee made up of board members, key staff leadership, and external stakeholders. This provides a diversity of perspectives enabling the organization to look at different ideas and strategies. 

Partners for Impact facilitated discussions about the mission, vision and values. As the strategic planning committee grappled with the organization’s direction, they agreed to host three listening sessions across the State of North Carolina that engaged participants that were part of the PCANC network. Partners for Impact consultants facilitated these sessions, gathered data and completed a simple analysis of the results. The feedback helped the committee think about the future and to  think about the dynamics that could come into play which would influence the overarching goals of the organization.

As part of the process, Partners for Impact facilitated a Board retreat where the board “tried on” a new vision and mission statement and explored emerging organizational goals. Once they agreed to work with a set of organizational goals, the Board and the leadership team worked together in the retreat to discuss strategies that could be used over the next 3-5 years. Once the board and leadership team completed the retreat the strategic planning committee took the ideas and built a draft plan. The plan was written in such a way that staff had the opportunity to fill in the operational plans that were essential to achieve the desired results over the next few years, thereby ensuring staff engagement in the process. 

Stan Holt, PhD, the Co-Owner and Senior Advisor with Partners for Impact, has been trained in the Policy Governance model. He has used the approach when being an executive director and a board member. He worked with the Executive Committee of PCANC’s Board of Directors to develop board governance policies. In addition, he did training, including an introductory video that supported the board in increasing it’s understanding of the policy governance approach.