Community
Cultivate the common good.
Cultivating community strength is the beginning and end of civic work. It’s a long game, involving trust and relationship building, convening, network weaving and retooling institutions to be more nimble, equitable and inclusive. It’s also key to achieving sustainable impact.
Vision
Transform a gleam in the eye into shared commitment.
You can’t reach your destination if you don’t know where you’re headed. Building consensus on a desired future requires inspiration and imagination married to purpose, practicality and a strong awareness of community need and support. Clarifying your vision is the first critical step to achieving impact.
Strategy
Change goals into outcomes.
Think about success as a developmental arc of growth and opportunity. Strategy involves plotting out markers along the way to measure how you’re doing – priorities, goals, tactics, short-term outputs and long-term outcomes. Moving your organization from a group with a strategic plan to a strategic organization – that’s a recipe for impact.
Structure
Optimize all the elements.
Ensuring all elements of your operations are progressing in sync – funding, programs, staffing, support systems – is a 3-D chess game. But it shouldn’t be puzzling! Organizational assessment tools and management guidance can strengthen your organizational impact.
“What I greatly value about working with Diane is her ability to be a strategic thought partner who can work from the big picture through detailed execution. She is insightful, thoughtful and has real talents for bringing all the pieces together.”
— Michael Brown, Civic Commons, Seattle Foundation