Facilitating a structured process to define success and validate the mission and vision
Project Summary
The Cuyahoga County Workforce Funders Group is a coalition of public, private and philanthropic funders co-investing in workforce development systems change in Cuyahoga County (Greater Cleveland). Since 2018, the CCWFG has served as a hub for funders and partners to elevate, incubate and advocate for solutions that help the workforce ecosystem generate and sustain change for the better. In 2024, CCWFG sought to update their strategic plan and brought New Growth on to facilitate the process.
New Growth delivered end-to-end strategic planning services grounded in data, community input, and an intersectional equity lens. Work began with a Community Review using the Community Responsiveness Assessment framework to evaluate local workforce readiness and system capacity. Building on these findings, New Growth facilitated a structured process to define success, elevate the importance of system interfaces, validate mission and vision, and identify high-impact opportunities and updated strategic priorities. A dedicated focus on collective impact explored and recommended approaches for sector partnership support, including models for self-sustainability and targeted technical assistance.
Outcome
After the six month process, New Growth delivered a comprehensive written strategic plan that provided an updated mission and vision statement, identified guiding principals and structured the work moving forward into actionable pillars. The CCWFG has operationalized the plan and is actively pursuing grant making opportunities aligned with the pillars.
