strategic plan 2015-2020

Transcription

STRATEGIC PLAN
2015-2020
YWCA Banff Strategic Plan 2015-2020
CONTENTS
Introduction............................................................................................ 1
Banff Community Social Assessment ................................................... 1
Highlights of YWCA of Banff Strategic Plan 2010-2014......................2
YWCA Canada’s Vision and Mission and Areas of Focus ....................3
Current program offerings at YWCA Banff...........................................3
Input from Community Leaders, Partners and Members......................4
Strategic Areas of Focus for Next Five Years.........................................5
Strategic Priorities.................................................................................11
What will success look like?..................................................................11
Conclusion............................................................................................. 12
YWCA Banff Strategic Plan
2015-2020
Introduction
In spring of 2014, the Board of YWCA Banff embarked on a strategic planning process to develop
priorities that will focus the work of the association over the next five years, providing direction to address
community needs, YWCA Banff desired outcomes and the outcomes of the national YWCA movement.
The strategic planning process included contracting an expert consultant to facilitate the exercise
and provide critical feedback to early stage concepts based on a review of the 2014 Banff Community
Social Assessment (Appendix A) conducted by the Town of Banff Family and Community Support
Services (FCSS); extensive one-on-one consultation and outreach at the local, regional and provincial
level by the CEO seeking direct feedback on past and present YWCA performance and future role; a
review of the results of the YWCA’s previous strategic plan; a review of current program offerings at
YWCA Banff; and input from stakeholders, community leaders and YWCA members at a facilitated
community conversation. Drawing on these sources, YWCA Banff’s Board of Directors and senior
management identified the areas of strategic focus for the association over the next five years.
Banff Community Social Assessment
The Town of Banff Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) released a community social
assessment in January 2014. It was intended to be a “snapshot in time” of [the] community’s social
well-being and vitality – [its] strengths, ideas and opportunities, along with [its] issues and challenges.
This picture helps [us] to determine how to best direct support and close existing gaps. It also serves
as an impetus to spark new thinking and action to respond to opportunities and issues alike.
Among the desired outcomes of the community social assessment identified
by Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) were:
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• Increased opportunities for community dialogue related to social assets and key issues.
• Increased opportunities for community identification of
creative solutions to address key issues.
• Increased awareness of community social opportunities.
• Create a catalyst for community action on identified key solutions.
• Be used by local non-profit groups and organizations for advocacy,
strategic planning, funding proposals and reports.
The Town’s desired outcomes were achieved in the YWCA strategic planning exercise as the report’s
findings were widely read and discussed both prior to and as part of the process, and they provided
a catalyst for action on key issues where YWCA mission and community need converged.
Key findings of the assessment which resonated in particular with YWCA Banff are:
• Lack of appropriate affordable housing and appropriate (‘suitable’) housing
• Increase in number of immigrants and temporary foreign workers
• Waiting lists for childcare
• Absence of programs dealing with sexual violence/sexual assault
• Need for more effective civic engagement
Highlights of YWCA of Banff Strategic Plan 2010-2014
CentrePoint Non-Profit Management was hired to facilitate strategic planning with the Board and Senior
Staff of the YWCA of Banff. External input was gathered from a community stakeholder survey along with
considerations from YWCA Canada and the Town of Banff priorities. Key strategies identified were:
•
Necessary investment in Y Mountain Lodge and Housing
to ensure sustainability of our organization
• Diversify revenue strategies to meet operational and strategic needs
• Provide anti-violence, housing and education programming that
meet community needs within available resources
• Engage an effective Board in support of organizational success.
• Ensure a strong community profile
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YWCA Canada’s Vision and Mission and Areas of Focus
YWCA Canada’s Vision
Women and girls empowered in a safe and equitable society.
YWCA Canada’s Mission
Advance gender equity through research, advocacy and sustainable Member Associations.
We focus on:
•
Ending violence against women and girls
•
Securing universal childcare
•
Achieving women’s economic security
•
Advancing the leadership of women and girls.
Strategic Priorities/Directions
•
Capacity: Strengthen the local capacity, connectedness and sustainability of MAs in our Movement
•
Visibility: Raise the profile of the Movement to increase the impact of our Movement.
•
Relevance: Be a Movement that is meaningful to and inclusive of young women and girls
•
Reach: Be a Movement that is inclusive of women and girls
from diverse communities and backgrounds
•
Advocacy: Be the go-to organization on issues affecting women and girls
In developing local priorities, each YWCA must consider in what ways and to what extent it can align its
activities to the national priorities and directions within the four focus areas. All five strategic directions of
the national YWCA- capacity, visibility, reach, relevance and advocacy- are also themes at YWCA Banff
and run through all the discussions of response to community needs and realizing the YWCA vision.
In developing action plans in the service of the agreed-upon local strategic priorities, YWCA Banff can
use these national priorities as “filters” and also as measures of progress as regards its strategic goals.
Current program offerings at YWCA Banff
YWCA Banff offers a number of programs and services for women and girls and their families in the
Bow Valley. As the only organization facilitating safe shelter and offering domestic violence crisis
intervention and counselling programs in the Bow Valley, it plays an essential role in the lives and safety
of women and children in these communities. In addition, YWCA Banff, in partnership with schools,
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delivers extensive outreach and educational awareness programs on themes of violence-prevention
and healthy relationships for children and youth from Grades 1-10. The YWCA also provides programs
for women and men around healthy relationships and works with YWCA Canada to deliver national
awareness programs and campaigns like International Women’s Day, Power of Being a Girl and the
National Day of Remembrance and Action to End Violence Against Women – Rose Campaign.
YWCA Banff also meets a widely-recognized community need and supports the local economy
through its affordable housing program which primarily accommodates workers who are employed
in the service industry. Job seekers also find temporary accommodation and supports at YWCA
Banff when they arrive in town. In order to support its services and be able to offer affordable
housing, YWCA Banff operates a social enterprise (hotel) which generates the majority of the
association’s annual revenues. The balance is derived from government funding, grants and
fundraising activities. Fundraising activities are chosen to reinforce the advocacy work of the YWCA
movement through national YWCA programs such as YWCA WALK A MILE IN HER SHOES®.
Input from Community Leaders, Partners and Members
A broad range of community input was sought at the facilitated conversation on Friday, June 20,
2014. Present were the Mayor of Banff, a senior administrator from the hospital, representation
from the RCMP and Victim Services, a school board trustee, president of Banff Elementary School
Parent Council, Soroptimist International and Bow Valley Literacy. Others who were not able to
attend in person, sent along their thoughts and ideas which have been included. (Appendix B)
After an initial presentation consisting of history and overview of the YWCA movement,
and current programs and activities of YWCA Banff, the guests, in small groups, were
asked to reflect on and share their perspectives on the following questions:
Q1: From your perspective what are the some of the most pressing needs
for women and girls and their families in Banff/Bow Valley?
Six big overarching themes emerged from the conversation.
1. Affordable housing
2. Immigrants/temporary foreign workers
3. Child care-affordable/accessible
4. Sexual violence/sexual health/healthy relationships
5. Healthy affordable activities/promote healthy lifestyles
6. Leadership development and opportunities for meaningful community service for women
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Q2: In light of what you have heard about YWCA Banff and the YWCA movement,
what would you like to see YWCA Banff provide to your community?
1. Bring women together –they will do the rest
2. More of the same (i.e. more of what you are already doing)
3. Stand-alone, purpose built women’s shelter and Second Stage housing
4. Child care
5. Prevention and education around Human Trafficking
6. Employer buy-in
7. Become a ‘hub’ or bridge about issues –communicate more
about what is available; leverage our assets
8. Leadership development and mentoring for women and girls
9. Help women and girls find their voice/tell their story-need to start young and in schools
10. Connect with children-boys too-they need to know how to relate to girls and women
11. Prevention of verbal and emotional abuse/violence/(bullying)-at home and in the workplace
Strategic Areas of Focus for Next Five Years
The Board reflected deeply on the input it received from stakeholders as well as on the information
from the other sources in the strategic planning process. In coming to decision, the Board took
into account not only community need, but also considered if any other organization in the
community was more suited to address the need or was already addressing the need. If no
one else could be identified, then the Board looked at the YWCA Banff Mission, the national
YWCA priorities and focus areas, and YWCA Banff’s current capacity and strengths.
In light of this, the community priorities that were judged to be the best fit for YWCA
Banff’s mission and values, the current reality of YWCA Banff’s expertise and capacity,
and addressing gaps in the community are the following:
1. Housing
In the area of housing, three housing-related strategic opportunities were identified:
Emergency Shelter for persons experiencing violence – As part of our Domestic Violence Program,
the YWCA is the only organization in the Bow Valley providing a safe place for persons fleeing violent
situations. There is only one dedicated shelter space available the Bow Valley. The YWCA receives no
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core operating funds to support the shelter primarily due to physical constraints. A new purpose-built
shelter would provide suitable safety, counselling and support amenities supported by core funding
through the province; and an increase in the number of beds to reflect the needs of the Bow Valley.
Transitional Housing for persons moving out of shelter – When a person is ready to leave shelter,
transitioning to a non-emergency facility allows women to gradually gain more confidence and
independence while maintaining access to on-going supports and networks. This stage may last for
a few months up to a couple of years or more. Currently there is no transitional housing available
in the Bow Valley. With a zero vacancy rate in the Bow Valley and a lack of transitional housing,
persons leaving shelter often have to leave the community and their support systems (schools,
doctors, jobs and other professional supports) or move back into an unsafe violent environment.
Our priority is to secure a suitable Emergency Shelter and Transitional housing for the Bow Valley by
2020 that aligns with our service model, program goals and best practices for facility development.
Affordable Housing - Quite separate from emergency and transitional housing, YWCA Banff also
has a robust residential management infrastructure with a proven track record in providing affordable
and semi-permanent housing. The lack of affordable housing in Banff has been a long standing
problem that precipitates many other social issues in our community. Looking forward the YWCA
will ensure that affordable housing resources align with the mission and values of the organization.
Potential partners who might help with these priorities are:
Shelter and Transitional Housing
• Town of Banff
• Town of Canmore
• Province of Alberta
• YWCA Calgary
• Donors and philanthropic support
• Private sector partner
• Rotary Club of Canmore
• Philanthropic organizations; donors
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Affordable, Permanent Housing
• Town of Banff
• Government of Canada
• Private sector partners
• Foundations
2. Sexualized Violence/Healthy Relationships/Domestic Violence
There is no sexual assault or rape crisis centre in the Bow Valley. The local scene in Banff has at times
been compared to a university or college culture, with many young people converging from all over
the country and around the world, away from home often for the first time, living in close proximity
and often in their first job. Add to this the local young adult population some of whom are attracted
to the “downtown” bar scene as a source of fun and excitement or diversion from their routine.
As well, the RCMP has identified sexual assault and in particular, human trafficking of women and
temporary foreign workers, as a serious issue in our community. Based on national statistics, and
the nature of the community, it is not unreasonable to assume that services for victims of sexual
assault would be needed - even though currently no reliable statistics exist. This is something that
a well-designed and well-executed Sexual Assault response program could help to generate.
Assets that YWCA Banff brings to the table in relation to this priority are: an established and good
reputation in the field of violence prevention and women’s advocacy; good programming already in place
that could be built upon and expanded; professional staff who have been trained in best practices in this
field; a new Program Director who has extensive expertise in service delivery and program development
and planning; established relationship with the hospitals, RCMP, and existing partnerships with the
schools. Moreover, there are excellent programs available through YWCA Canada and other women’s
organizations such as the provincial Sexual Assault Response Committee; therefore YWCA Banff would
not be starting from scratch. Excellent programs are always being developed that can be utilized.
Some barriers or obstacles to success could be the fact that this is a difficult subject in any town and
especially in a tourist destination. Furthermore, people may be tempted to minimize the problem to
avoid the bad PR implications of addressing it very publicly. There are also concerns about anonymity
and discretion, especially in a small town. Securing long-term funding will also be a challenge, as will
the fact that this is a pervasive and far-reaching problem that has historically resisted social change.
Potential partners in addressing this issue are:
• Bar Watch
• RCMP
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• Bow Valley Victim Services Association
• Banff and Canmore Hospitals
• Employers/Hotel-Motel Association
• Municipalities in Bow Valley: Town of Banff, Town of Canmore, MD of Bighorn, ID9.
• Other Sexual Assault Centres
• Settlement Services
• Bow Valley Immigration Partnerships
• SARC (Sexual Assault Response Committee)
• University Prevention programs
3. Leadership Development/Meaningful Opportunities for Service/Mentoring
Participants in the strategic planning process reported that there are numerous opportunities to enlist
women leaders from the community and to develop new leadership among women and young women
in the Bow Valley with emphasis on underrepresented women. Providing women with meaningful
opportunities for service is also a contribution that YWCA Banff could make (not exclusively within
YWCA Banff but also connecting women to opportunities- acting as a “bridge” for women to where
they want to be). Related to both these concepts is that of mentoring and a number of participants saw
mentoring opportunities as an effective way especially to bring young women’s leadership forward.
Strategic opportunities that YWCA Banff enjoys in this regard, is the fact that YWCAs across the country
have many such programs that could be borrowed and adapted. The Women of Distinction brand, a
national trademarked program of YWCA Canada, represents an opportunity to celebrate women’s
leadership and raise the profile of YWCA Banff and could be reintroduced. Locally, too, The Banff Centre’s
Peter Lougheed Leadership Institute is a possible resource in the area of leadership development. YWCA
Banff is already connected to a strong network of women leaders; and the young demographic in Banff
means there are many keen young women with initiative who are risk-takers, choosing to come to Banff.
YWCA is already seen as a hub with resources for women. This could be further developed
and promoted. In reaching out to young women and connecting them to the movement, it
will be important to make best use of media and social media. Work is already happening
in this area and we have worked with the Pacific Centre for Leadership, giving our
employees the opportunity to attend their “Generation ‘Y’” leadership program. Work
with this generation could be ramped up and enhanced under this strategic priority.
Some of the challenges in this area are the need to be thoughtful about the kinds of leadership YWCA
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Banff wants to develop. YWCA Banff wishes to ensure that leadership is broadly defined and understood
so that it is inclusive of women from all areas of the community and to seek opportunities for inclusion
of women who have not traditionally been on the “leadership track”. In this regard, for many women,
barriers to participation still exist and specific sub-strategies will be needed to help remove those
barriers, especially for women of special populations. Funding is another challenge due to the fact
that leadership programs are proliferating and it has become quite a competitive area of interest.
Potential partners in helping YWCA Banff develop women’s leadership, and provide
meaningful opportunities for service and possibly mentoring opportunities are:
• Banff Community Foundation
• Soroptimist International
• Other Member Associations (MAs) and YWCA Canada
• Other women’s groups – 100 Women Who Care, Networking Environment for Women
• Employers
• Schools
• Bow Valley Immigration Partnership
• Settlement Services
• Towns of Canmore and Banff
• Bow Valley Literacy
• The Banff Centre’s Peter Lougheed Institute
• Pacific Centre for Leadership
• Churches
4. Organizational Sustainability
Although not addressed explicitly in the planning session, the ability of the YWCA Banff to offer
high quality programming and services is very much tied to the success of our social enterprise and
community reputation. This has been a major focus for our leadership and to achieve our goals
for the future, we have identified organizational sustainability as the fourth strategic priority.
The YWCA Banff Hotel comprises private and shared accommodation; cafe, groups and meetings
and staff are always looking at opportunities to diversify revenues through new business streams.
Expansion of the housing inventory will require significant focus on business operations.
Sustainability is also about having the capacity to recruit and retain good people and maintain
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a high level of accountability through best practice in social profit governance.
Potential Partners in helping the YWCA to develop a sustainable organization:
• Individual, corporate and philanthropic donors
• Other Member Associations
• YWCA Canada
• Community agencies
• Banff Lake Louise Tourism and Banff Lake Louise Hotel Motel Association
• Towns of Banff and Canmore
Related priorities not explicitly identified for action at this time.
By choosing these four issues as priorities, YWCA Banff is not saying the other areas (child care;
immigrants and foreign workers; and healthy, affordable activities for children, youth and adults) are
not important or indeed that these issues might not be addressed within the YWCA’s activities. Rather,
it is the view of the Board that YWCA Banff is better positioned at present to act directly on the four
issues selected and to measure the impact, with the likelihood that in so doing, YWCA Banff will
indirectly produce results in these other areas as well. For example, in developing a capacity to respond
to the shelter, appropriate services for immigrants will become part of the action plan. Likewise, while
designing our leadership development strategies we may focus programming to meet the needs of
our immigrant and special populations. Or, in pursuing the affordable housing priority, an opportunity
to incorporate child care space and housing for immigrant families might be a consideration.
Moreover, it is important to note that a strategic plan by definition contains time-specific priorities
and activities designed to achieve specific desired changes or community outcomes. They are meant
to move the yardsticks relative to identified priorities. Routine work of the staff and Board continue
alongside the strategic plan activities and ensure that fundamental organizational and programmatic
infrastructure remains strong and healthy. This means, among other things, that board development,
succession planning, fund development, advocacy and commitments to the national movement continue.
Next Steps
Staff and Board left the strategic planning session with different and complementary
tasks in order to review the identified strategic areas and turn them into action
plans that can be rolled out over five years and monitored and evaluated.
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Strategic Priorities
1. Housing – emergency shelter and transitional housing; and affordable housing
2. Sexual Assault/Healthy Relationships/Domestic Violence Programming and Services
3. Leadership development and advocacy
4. Organizational sustainability
Having shown how these relate respectively to community need, YWCA capacity and YWCA
Canada priorities, the next steps are to analyze each issue more deeply in order to decide what
specific outcomes YWCA Banff hopes to achieve in relation to each (Appendix C). These outcomes
will become the drivers of staff and board work plans and provide the basis for evaluation. With
the outcomes clearly defined, actions/tasks/work plans will be developed to achieve them.
What will success look like?
At this early stage, the Board and senior staff generated an initial and tentative list of the results they
would like to see at the end of the five year strategic plan. These represent a first pass at the question
and so are subject to change and further refinement once the more detailed analysis has been carried
out. Having said that, this list does provide a window into what was “top of mind” for board and staff
when they sat down to plan for the next five years. It will be useful to come back to this list as a kind of
touch stone when the work plans with recommended outcomes are presented in the spring of 2015.
1. Purpose-built shelter/second stage housing/other programming to
address women’s needs, including around issue of sexualized violence/
sexualized assault/domestic violence (Community Priority 1&4)1
2. Increased partnerships (CP All)
3. Social/recreational opportunities for women (including child-minding) (CP 3,5,6)
4. More boys are being engaged in intentional programming (Best Practice)(CP 2,4,5)
5. More diverse influence-makers are involved (CP 2,6)
6. YWCA at Child Care tables or in the child care conversation (CP3)
7. “Get Out” program for moms/parents of younger aged children (CP 3,5,6)
8. Staff are leaders in training in their fields (CP 6)
9. Executing on a Fund Development plan –with Board (CP 6)
10. Increased connections to Foreign Workers/Immigrants (CP 2, possibly 3 and 4)
1
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The numbers in brackets represent the community priority identified at the Community Conversation.
11. Expand geographic service provision to First Nation, Métis, and Inuit communities (N/A)
12. Increased access to YWCA through technology (CP6)
13. More young women are comfortable with the YWCA (CP 2,4, 6)
Conclusion
YWCA Banff is well-positioned to make a significant contribution to its community in the four
areas identified for 2015-2020. The areas are clearly part of the community’s self-understanding
as reflected on the Community Social Assessment and the Community Conversation, so it is
reasonable to claim they are relevant. In addition, they have been shown to align very well with
the priorities and areas of focus of YWCA Canada. Finally, they relate to strengths and capacity
that YWCA Banff already demonstrates and, through this strategic plan, YWCA Banff can
leverage these to move to a new level of community profile, support and engagement.
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Appendix A
Banff Community Social Assessment: http://banff.ca/DocumentCenter/View/1752
Appendix B
List of guests and attendees at the Community Conversation:
NAME
Affiliation
Agency
Julia LoVecchio
YWCA Member
Hub Communications
Shelly Buchan
YWCA Member
Mineral Springs Hospital Administrator
Yvonne Machuk
YWCA Member
Soroptimist and past Principal
Donna McKown
Past Board Member
Community Health Nurse
Karen Sorensen
Advocate
Mayor of Banff
Nancy DaDalt
YWCA Member
Banff Elementary Parent Council
Sgt. Stan Andronyk
Advocate
RCMP
Arlene Rheaume
YWCA Member
Past Board Member and School Board
Pam Lockyer
Advocate
Bow Valley Victim Services
Debbie Penninga
Public
Literacy Coordinator
Wendy Kuiper
YWCA Board
Christine LaRocque
YWCA Board
Natali Schindler
YWCA Board
Suzanne White
YWCA Board
Susan Kennard
YWCA Board
Erin Walkey
YWCA Board
Barbara Buchmann
YWCA Board
Shannon Fountain
YWCA Board
Connie MacDonald
YWCA Staff
Linda Chisholm
YWCA Staff
Sandi Richer
YWCA Staff
Steve Crotty
YWCA Staff
Steve Woollard
YWCA Staff
Sara Mattsson
YWCA Staff
Cathie Pead, Facilitator
YWCA Staff
Note: Jeanie Godfrey, Settlement Services TOB, could not attend but provided feedback and comments that were considered.
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strategic plan 2015-2020

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