a strategic movement-wide dialog - boys & girls clubs of...

THE JOURNEY TOWARD GREAT FUTURES CONTINUES It has been an incredible honor and privilege to serve as your President and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of America during the first three years of the Great Futures Impact Plan. The level of dedication and commitment to our mission, at every level, among volunteers and professionals, in all corners of our nation and the globe, is truly humbling and inspiring. A deep concern for the kids we serve, as well as a profound pa-triotism that seeks a brighter future for our nation and all the communities it encompasses, permeates the consciousness of our people. We share a deeply held belief that every child born in this nation deserves an equal chance to pursue the Ameri-can Dream, to have a genuine opportunity to realize their full potential – in other words, to achieve a Great Future. There is no doubt that we can both continue the amazing 155-year legacy we’ve inherited from those who came before us, and take its promise to unseen heights. The potential is limitless, if we dedicate ourselves to doing the right things, in the right way, for the youth who need us most throughout America.

TAKING STOCK OF OURPROGRESS; ASSESSING CHALLENGE AND OPPORTUNITY With 2015 in full swing, and as we approach the midpoint of the current decade, the Boys & Girls Club Movement finds itself at a fascinating juncture in its long and storied history. We face a world that presents innumerable chal-lenges to young people growing up in a quickly changing society and ever-shrinking global village. At the same time, driven by measurable outcomes and innovative pro-gram approaches, our Movement is poised to elevate the scope of our impact on the lives of our children and teens.

Boys & Girls Clubs are positioned in an unprecedented light as a leader and game-changer for America’s kids most in need. How does a social movement endure over many de-cades, staying relevant to societal needs and true to its mission, despite dramatic social change and challeng-es? Throughout our history, our Movement has prided itself on deliberate, thoughtful planning that involves stakeholders from every level and viewpoint. From Design for the Seventies and Blueprint for the ‘80s to OUTREACH ’91; from Toward a New Century to Foun-dation for the Future and Impact 2012, we have always worked together to forge a vision and strategic path that would keep the Movement contemporary, relevant and effective. The latest chapter in this history saw the National Commission meet in 2011 to create the current Great Futures Impact Plan. As we reach the halfway mark in the plan’s six-year horizon, the time has come to assess our progress, revisit our vision and goals, and update our plans in light of the ever-evolving social and eco-nomic landscape we face.

----Our Vision Provide a world-class Club experience that assures success is within reach of every young person who walks through our doors, with all members on track to graduate from high school with a plan for the future, demonstrating good character and citizenship, and living a healthy lifestyle.

A Strategic Movement-wide Dialog: Assessing the Progress of Our Great Futures Impact PlanJim Clark, President and CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of America

OUR VISION Provide a world-class Club Experience that assures success is within reach of every young person who enters our doors, with all members on track to graduate from high school with a plan for the future, demonstrating good character and citizenship, and living a healthy lifestyle.

A Strategic Movement-wide Dialog: Assessing the Progress of Our Great Futures Impact Plan

A Fundamentally Sound Plan…..While Much Has Changed The recommendations made by the National Commission were inherently visionary in their assessment of the ”frag-ile eco-system” facing our nation’s youth, particularly those living in communities or circumstances with the fewest re-sources and steepest challenges to succeeding in life. Their vision statement for our Movement, and the Formula For Impact they endorsed as the blueprint for maximum impact, continue to stand as solid guideposts for our progress. However, several factors have changed or shifted in ways that bear examination as we assess our progress to date, and the path forward. The Economy As the economy continues to recover since the great reces-sion of 2009, many families and individuals in our society have seen their incomes increase, while unemployment rates have declined. However, there remain too many communi-ties and families for whom the recovery has been negligible – and that means too many young people still trapped in cir-cumstances that breed hopelessness, despair and lack of op-portunity. These kids are those who need Clubs most. What are the implications for us in helping kids stay on track to graduate, combat poor health habits and obesity, and devel-op the good character traits that will determine their future success? With their plan for the future in hand, how do we

help level the playing field for future opportunities for our kids, especially access to a college education or intentional post-secondary education plan?

The Availability of Impact Data Our plan calls for a shift from being outcome-intended to outcome-driven. This requires access to timely data that can tell us how we are doing, what is working and what is not, and can indicate who is implementing best practices that can be replicated. During the first years of the impact plan, we relied on the use of Club attendance as a proxy for impact. While attendance is a critical metric, we must produce more specific data that measures all aspects of the Club experience.

The good news is that the National Youth Outcome Initiative has reached “critical mass” – with 93% of organizations par-ticipating – so that meaningful outcome data is now avail-able. How do we most effectively harness this powerful in-formation as a Movement, and as individual organizations, so we can increase our impact on the lives of kids, and make our case more strongly to stakeholders, supporters and the nation as a whole? Out-of-School Time The very foundation of the youth development field is pred-icated on the importance of the time young people spend away from home and school. How that time is spent can make a profound difference in how they fare in those two key

A FUNDAMENTALLY SOUND PLAN…WHILE MUCH HAS CHANGED

The recommendations made by the National Commission were inherently visionary in their assessment of the ”fragile eco-system” facing our nation’s youth, particularly those living in communities or circumstances with the fewest resources and steepest challenges to succeeding in life. Their vision statement for our Movement, and the Formula for Impact they endorsed as the blueprint for maximum impact, continue to stand as solid guideposts for our progress. However, several factors have changed or shifted in ways that bear examination as we assess our progress to date and chart the path forward. THE ECONOMY As the economy continues to recover following the great recession of 2009, many families and individuals in our society have seen their incomes increase, while unemployment rates have declined. However, there remain too many communities and families for whom the recovery has been negligible – and that means too many young people still trapped in circumstances that breed hopelessness, despair and lack of opportunity. These kids are those who need Clubs most. What are the implica-tions for us in helping kids stay on track to graduate, combat poor health habits and obesity, and develop the good character traits that will determine their success? With their plan for the future in hand, how do we help level the playing field of oppor-tunities for our kids, especially access to a college education or having an intentional post-secondary education plan?

THE AVAILABILITY OF IMPACT DATA Our plan calls for a shift from being outcome-intended to outcome-driven. This requires access to timely data that can tell us how we are doing, what is working and what is not, and can indicate who is implementing best practices that can be rep-licated. During the first years of the plan, we relied on the use of Club attendance as a proxy for impact. While attendance is a critical metric, we must produce more specific data that measures all aspects of the Club Experience.

The good news is that the National Youth Outcomes Initiative (NYOI) has reached “critical mass” – with 96 percent of organizations participating – so that meaningful outcome data is now available. How do we most effectively harness this powerful information as a Movement, and as individual organizations, so we can increase our impact on the lives of kids, and make our case more strongly to stakeholders, supporters and the nation as a whole?


OUT-OF-SCHOOL TIME The very foundation of the youth development field is predicated on the importance of the time young people spend away from home and school. How that time is spent can make a profound difference in how they fare in those two key environ-ments and, indeed, impact the trajectory of their lives. Yet that reality is often not appreciated beyond those directly involved in the work. The Great Futures Campaign launched in 2014 set out to establish a deeper awareness and understanding of why the out-of-school hours are so critical, and why support for organizations like Boys & Girls Clubs is an important societal priority. How do we continue to effectively press this case in a nation and world so filled with crises, political polarization, and competing priorities? CHILD SAFETY: OUR BEDROCK One of the sad societal legacies of the past decade is the child abuse epidemic, as evidenced by such high-profile cases as those in the Catholic Church, Penn State and the Boy Scouts. While our Movement has been a leader in addressing this issue for decades, we identified the need to reinvigorate our commitment to child protection and safety as the bedrock of all that we stand for as a youth organization. Our attitude is “good enough is not good enough,” and “we must constantly seek to improve and advance our safety standards and practices.” The advent of the Internet and social media, and the seemingly limitless access they create, has dramatically increased the sense of urgency on this front. While our Child and Club Safety initiative has made amazing progress over the past three years, how do we maintain momentum and focus on this all-important agenda over the long haul? THE SHRINKING GLOBE Technology has driven a vast increase in the volume and pace of communications, in ways that affect everyone – adults and kids alike. It has also increased our sense of connectedness with other communities, cultures and nations. At the same time, as individuals we sometimes feel more isolated in silos of digital conversation and commerce. How does this phenomenon affect our role as a leader in youth development, not only domestically but with other nations around the globe whose youth populations face challenges often more dire than our own? And how do we best help our young “digital natives” navigate this ever-changing landscape that they will inherit and ultimately shape and control? THE NEED FOR STRONG EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP Since the launch of the Great Futures Impact Plan in 2011, the Movement has seen an influx of new chief executive officers at local Clubs: some 40 percent of current CEOs were not involved in the planning process. As revisions are made to the plan, one of the clear priorities to be addressed is the paramount importance of Executive Leadership. A strategy for strengthening this critical need is already in the implementation phase, with more to come. We must determine how to quickly and effective-ly ramp up and expand this initiative over the next three years. BGCA’S NEW SERVICE DELIVERY MODEL Based on the Commission’s recommendations, in 2013 BGCA launched Project Fast Forward, which realigned BGCA’s service delivery to more effectively address the rich diversity of needs across the 1,150 local affiliates that make up the Boys & Girls Club Movement. A thorough assessment of progress to date will allow for needed adjustments, and facilitate the continuous improvement in services that local Clubs need and deserve.


WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO ADVANCE? The Commission discussed a variety of potential obstacles that could impede our progress as a Movement. As the first three years of the plan unfolded, the unity of purpose displayed across our Movement was impressive: from approving required background checks, to adopting the Formula for Impact, to embracing outcome measurement, to considering new ideas, such as integrated direct marketing. However, there remain several areas in which we must improve: • Becoming data-driven, including developing plans for the next level of outcome measurement and accountability • Adopting a comprehensive Youth Development Framework built on the Formula for Impact • Assessing our capacity to work together to increase financial and operational efficiency, and raise money • Defining a partnership strategy at all levels, including how Clubs engage in collective impact initiatives • The speed at which we are able to make decisions and activate changes • Defining and determining the steps we can take together to advance the goals of the plan • Determining standards and measures related to program quality and operational capacity

The dynamic dialog that led to the creation of the Great Futures Impact Plan, and that has continued throughout the first three years, will be a critical factor in enabling our Movement to sustain its progress and momentum.

The availability of NYOI data creates an unprecedented wealth of information to help shape our goals going for-ward. More Clubs are activating their linkage to NYOI every day, continuously improving our ability to under-stand the key levers for helping kids overcome obstacles and reach their full potential. The timeliness of this data provides a unique advantage, as our Movement will be able to assess its results and make adjustments with great-er speed than ever before. The process for updating the strategic plan will be led by the National Area Council Committee and the Pres-ident’s Advisory Council. These two groups offer a rich cross-section of experience, knowledge and diversity of insight that will enrich the assessment and planning process. These two dynamic groups will act as a National Planning Commission. They will meet in Atlanta in February 2015, charged with assessing the data from the first three years of the plan, leading a Movement-wide dialog on progress to date, and recommending specific adjustments in strategies and goals that will drive not only the next three years of the plan, but projections for several years into the future. Throughout 2015, Town Hall meetings will be held at Area Councils, conferences and other gatherings to facil-itate a rich dialog around their initial recommendations.

Everyone who has a leadership role, at any level, in the Boys & Girls Club Movement shares the awesome re-sponsibility of guiding this critically important enterprise through the next phase of its mission. As in past decades, we face many formidable obstacles and issues. Our for-bearers brought great resilience and wisdom to the task, always assuring that our mission remained relevant and successful. I have absolutely no doubt that the talented and dedicated women and men of today’s Boys & Girls Club family will be every bit as effective in leading the way on behalf of our young people. I look forward to con-tinuing this noble journey with all of you in the months and years ahead.


A SHARED JOURNEY OF CHALLENGE, OPTIMISM AND COMMITMENT

a strategic movement-wide dialog - boys & girls clubs of...

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