“We had a habit of talking about our work in the past tense, focusing on past accomplishments to demonstrate impact. Springboard Strategies helped us chart a vision for future impact, not by telling us what to feel, think, or do, but by facilitating processes that allowed us to build our vision and values together. Our strategic plan has helped us identify our path forward, a path that is focused on community and uses a multi-pronged approach to create positive change.”
Ready for a significant shift, the Southern Center for Human Rights came to Springboard in need of a cohesive strategy to maximize the impact of the organization over the next five years. This new strategy would underscore the Southern Center's leadership position and paint a vivid future vision of influence in their fight for equality, dignity, and justice for people affected by the Deep South's criminal legal system.
The Challenge
Hearing all voices: The Southern Center for Human Rights took a comprehensive and collaborative approach to develop its new strategic direction. We gathered insights from over 100 stakeholders, including board, staff, donors, partners – even former clients.
Building the future together: Springboard recognized the need for commitment and alignment of strategic decisions across the entire team. In addition to surveys and interviews, we facilitated five workshops to unpack vision, values, strategies, and priorities for the organization. Facilitated workshops are the most effective tool to encourage conversation, healthy debate, and resolution.
Why, What, and How: Together, we created a strategic roadmap that is “just right for us,” including a big picture mission, vision, values, focal areas, as well as practical, tactical strategic outcomes and priorities to start with immediately. We even built a decision making filter to maintain accountability and transparency inside the organization.
How Did We Do It?
Springboard Strategy believes that strategy should be done with organizations, not to them. Springboard used a three-step process to co-create a plan with the team.
Our approach was unique and custom to Southern Center’s needs. In this project, we struck a careful balance of inclusion, collaboration, and decision-making at moments along the journey.
Seasoned in operations, strategy, and facilitation, we rely heavily on interactive workshops to build plans with all organization levels. In our opinion, investing in a strategic plan without alignment and buy-in throughout the experience is a waste of time and money.
What Did It Take?
Moving upstream to attack root causes: SCHR needed to leverage its strength as an organization rooted in driving change case-by-case through litigation to one who will attack the criminal legal system inequities from all sides. As a result, SCHR decided to expand its policy, community engagement, training, and education work.
Doubling down in the Deep South: SCHR made the tough choice about focus and decided to deepen their impact in the southeast rather than nationally.
Coordinated and cross-functional: The team saw the need for a holistic approach as an organization. The entire team contributed to one coordinated roadmap that connected programs, policy, marketing, and education.
Where are they now?
SCHR launched their strategic plan in 2019. In year one, they received well-deserved attention, new donors and sources of funding. Their focus continues to pivot from cases to systemic issues - positioning them as a national leader in the fight for equality, dignity, and justice for the incarcerated.
With devastation wreaked by COVID-19 and the racial reckoning in our country, SCHR is more important than ever. Board chair James Kwak said it best, “The cause of justice is always urgent. The Southern Center will always stand for equality, dignity, and justice in the criminal legal system and for a world free of the evils of the death penalty, mass incarceration, and the criminalization of poverty.”
Learn more about the Southern Center for Human Rights at www.schr.org