Engaging a Diverse Parent Community to Co-Create a Strategic Vision for Growth and Equity

Mundo Verde, a bilingual charter school in Washington, D.C., collaborated with Onward Consulting to actively engage its multicultural parent community in shaping the school’s future. To achieve this, Onward adapted a large-scale facilitation model, originally designed for civic engagement by America Speaks, which emphasizes structured, inclusive dialogue and real-time feedback. This approach provided a platform for over 100 parents to collaboratively identify and prioritize the school’s strategic elements, ensuring their voices played a key role in the school’s growth and evolution.

With an upcoming move to a new campus and plans for expansion, Mundo Verde had a unique opportunity to involve its diverse parent body—comprising both English and Spanish speakers—in strategic planning. The goal was to ensure the school’s development reflected the community’s values and concerns, particularly regarding bilingual education, equity, and sustainability.

Onward Consulting tailored the large-scale facilitation model to suit Mundo Verde’s unique needs, focusing on bilingual engagement and real-time feedback:

• Preparation and Inclusivity:  Bilingual materials to ensure all parents, regardless of language, had equal access to information and could fully participate.
• Structured Small Group Discussions: Organized parents into language-specific tables of ten, each led by a facilitator to guide discussions on the school’s values and direction.
• Real-Time Feedback and Synthesis: Leveraged technology to collect and synthesize feedback from all groups, highlighting key themes and areas of consensus to the larger assembly for reflection.
• Iterative Prioritization and Group Voting: Groups discussed the synthesized feedback, refined their ideas, and engaged in real-time voting to ensure decisions were community-driven.
• Transparent Reporting: Compiled all input and decisions into a comprehensive report, offering a clear and actionable roadmap for school leadership that reflected the collective voice of its parent body.

By adapting the facilitation model to meet the needs of a bilingual school community, Onward successfully led a session where every parent had a voice in shaping the school’s strategic direction. This process strengthened the relationship between Mundo Verde and its parent community, promoted inclusive decision-making, and resulted in a set of clear, community-driven goals to guide the school’s future.

Uncovering Purpose: How Strategic Facilitation Guided CFYJ to Define Its Legacy and Future Impact

Campaign for Youth Justice (CFYJ) turned to Onward for external facilitation to streamline its organizational methods and metrics, seeking to clarify its strategic direction. Initially engaged for logic model training, Onward’s involvement expanded into a pivotal two-day staff retreat. Amidst intensive discussions, a profound revelation surfaced: CFYJ faced a fundamental existential question—was it merely a time-bound campaign or an evolving organization with lasting impact potential?

Recognizing the gravity of this inquiry, Onward orchestrated an inclusive board retreat to delve deeper into CFYJ’s identity dilemma. Building on insights from the staff retreat, Onward guided board members through a structured exploration of strategic options. Employing a mix of facilitation techniques, including open dialogue, equitable participation frameworks, and individual reflection Onward fostered an environment where each board member’s voice was heard and valued.

Through this rigorous facilitation process, CFYJ’s board arrived at a pivotal decision: to maintain CFYJ as a campaign with clearly defined impact goals and a sunset plan. This decision not only solidified CFYJ’s strategic direction but also set the stage for the organization’s final strategic plan. It was a moment of clarity and alignment, where CFYJ’s mission and objectives were honed with precision, paving the way for focused advocacy and sustainable impact in the realm of youth justice.

This case study underscores the transformative power of facilitation in uncovering and resolving organizational dilemmas, to guide nonprofits like CFYJ towards strategic clarity and purposeful action.

First Shift Justice Project (FSJP), a nonprofit championing the workplace rights of low-income workers, aimed to boost its operational efficiency and expand its reach. Initially, FSJP was a one-woman operation, with attorney Laura Brown handling both educational programs and direct legal representation. FSJP enlisted Onward to sharpen its mission, define clear goals, and design a comprehensive logic model with measurable impacts.

Onward partnered with FSJP through focused consultations, honing in on key areas: defining the core problem, understanding the target audience, and refining the mission. Onward helped FSJP distinguish between program, strategic, and mission goals, guiding the creation of a logic model that clearly communicated their strategy to potential funders. This approach resulted in FSJP securing its first significant investment.

With a clear mission and a solid logic model, FSJP secured funding that sparked rapid growth. In just a few years, FSJP expanded from one staff member to a team of seven, with plans for further expansion. This growth amplified FSJP’s  ability to train employers, represent workers, and significantly boost its community impact. Onward’s strategic consultancy proved to be a game-changer, demonstrating the immense value of targeted guidance for small nonprofits.