The Situation

In 2010, the Rocky Mountain Center for Health Promotion & Education (RMC Health) sought to begin a strategic planning process. Having attended one of Shelli’s presentations, several staff recommended her for the task. Sharon Murray, RMC Health’s CEO, felt a more in-depth approach was needed but wasn’t sure what that was. After a discussion with Shelli, she decided an organizational development process was the right tool for the organization.

The Process

The process began with a full day staff and board planning retreat to address key issues identified through Nonprofit Impact’s research and interviews with stakeholders. The strategic decision RMC Health faced was one of identity. Staff had conflicting ideas about the organization; some felt they were in the business of professional development while others felt school health was RMC Health’s area of expertise. Leadership ultimately decided that RMC Health was a professional development organization and the implications of this crucial decision impacted every step in the organizational development process.

Shelli met with staff to set strategic goals and then with the board of directors to present the plan. During the writing of the plan, RMC Health faced a major funding challenge due to federal budget cuts. Sharon commented, “Shelli helped me figure out my strategy in this crisis, and adapted the plan based on what our needs were. She gave me exactly what I needed when I needed it.”

The Results

Since adopting the plan, RMC Health has worked intensely to implement change and respond to funding challenges. The organization rebranded almost immediately, changing its name and creating a new website. Internally, the organization was restructured into three departments: professional development, operations, and strategy and development. The organization honed in on its competitive advantage in the market, developed new data management and reporting systems, and reallocated staff to newly created positions based on skill and staff interests. Sharon said, “With this organizational development plan, I was able to create a structure that strengthened our core. When we are hit with obstacles, we aren’t knocked off our feet.”

The Situation

In just 14 months, every level of administration between the Division and West Virginia’s Governor changed, all while the Division was adjusting to a new internal restructuring. This, coupled with the realization that the Division lacked a strong, cohesive sense of identity motivated the Division to seek ways to strengthen its position and operations and better deliver public health outcomes in a quickly-changing state environment.

The Process

The Division selected Nonprofit Impact to guide the development of an integrated work plan. The process began with a two-day retreat, where after examining integrated chronic disease data and stakeholder perceptions, staff created six Division-wide outcomes and strategies to meet each health outcome (the strategic framework).

Next, partners with expertise in diabetes and cardiovascular disease were invited to offer further input, since these programs were due to revise their strategic plans. Ultimately the Division-wide strategic framework was embraced by all chronic disease programs as it was agreed that the strategies were the same, albeit the metrics would be different.

A second meeting was held with all Division staff to address implementation progress, followed by a leadership meeting to build out organizational structure needed to carry out the new strategies. Jessica Wright, Division Director, commented, “Shelli’s methods and strategies helped us tremendously. She was able to pull staff out of program-only mentalities to think progressively about our position, our strategic partners, and our message. The focus on outcomes rather than process allowed us to unleash our collective synergy and move forward with purpose.”

The Results

Implementation of an integrated, Division-wide strategic plan has positioned the Division to be responsive to funding changes, determine gaps in staff skills, and be more competitive for grant opportunities. Another outcome has been aligning organizational data management structure and practices with the plan’s six Division-wide outcomes, streamlining the process for delivering status reports to the Governor’s office. The Division was also awarded a Communities Putting Prevention to Work grant to examine community policy changes affecting obesity and create a recognition program for WV to recognize healthy communities within the state.

The Situation

The Colorado HIV / AIDS Community Partnership was created by three local foundations in collaboration with the National AIDS Fund. As its first project, it asked the state’s five independent Colorado AIDS Projects (CAPs) to engage in a sustainability planning project. As federal funding for HIV / AIDS services declines and demand for services increases, finding ways to improve the sustainability of these organizations has become even more important.

The Process

The CAPs selected Nonprofit Impact to facilitate the project, the first stage of which was to conduct sustainability assessments for each of the five organizations. Karen worked to ensure that each assessment highlighted the uniqueness of that CAPs’ work and geographic service area and provided a set of organization-specific recommendations to improve sustainability.

Next, the staff and board leaders of the CAPs came together to explore what new types of collaboration might be possible. The process served to build trust among the CAPs so that these critical issues could be discussed in a substantive way. Karen also worked to keep the funders in the loop. Christiano Sosa, Program Officer for the Denver Foundation and Partnership leader noted, “Nonprofit Impact attended our meetings and became a bridge between the CAPs’ collective work and what the Partnership was doing. We had not anticipated how important that bridge would be .”

The Results

The sustainability project is now in its third year and the CAPs are exploring the possibility of consolidating some their operations. A transition committee that includes staff and board leaders from each of the CAPs is guiding the process and maintaining the relationships that were built during the project. Christiano said, “We needed this honest, confidential assessment among the CAPs to make this happen.”

The Situation

In 2007, the North Caroline Legislature designated the Department of Health and Human Services as the state’s lead agency for injury and violence prevention. This spurred the Injury and Violence Prevention Branch within the Department to build partnerships with other stakeholders and highlighted the need for a statewide injury and violence prevention strategic plan. Having such a plan would also make North Carolina eligible to apply for certain types of federal funding.

The Process

The Branch selected Nonprofit Impact to guide the development of a statewide strategic plan. The process began internally by holding a retreat where Branch staff created a mission statement and clarified the Branch’s role and priorities distinct from others in the injury and violence prevention community. With this newfound clarity, the Branch moved forward to create a plan that was truly statewide, rather than a plan that only informed its own efforts.

Twenty-five key injury and violence prevention leaders from around North Carolina were invited to a 2-day meeting where the mission, values and goals for the statewide plan were developed. Shelli’s expertise and experience signaled needed credibility so that the group trusted the process. According to Valerie Collins Russell, Branch Head, “People left those two days feeling like they had accomplished something really significant.”

The Results

The Branch is putting the final touches on the statewide plan. The draft has been vetted by many stakeholders around the state and seven goal groups have drafted objectives, work plans, and action steps for each goal. Another outcome has been the creation of the new North Carolina Injury and Violence Prevention Advisory Council. Valerie explains, “We didn’t have the infrastructure in this field in North Carolina, and now we are building leadership to seek support for policy change and pursue new funding.”

The Situation

The Centers for Disease Control selected only four agencies nationwide to be sites for its Chronic Disease Integration Demonstration Project in 2008. The Center for Healthy Living and Chronic Disease Prevention (the Center) of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment was one of those four. The Center had been working towards integration as a means to increase its effectiveness and their selection as a demonstration site became a catalyst to increase the pace of those efforts.

The Process

The Center contracted Nonprofit Impact to facilitate the integration planning process. The process began with the Center’s management and leadership team working to create a statement of purpose and shared goals to encompass all Center programs. As the process moved to strategy selection and the building of work plans, Shelli and the team ensured that the entire staff was included in the planning process in a meaningful way.

Shelli then worked to address organizational structure by making specific organizational development recommendations to support successful implementation of the integration plan. According to Andrea Poniers, Deputy Director, “We can talk things to death sometimes and Shelli really kept us moving forward so we knew we were getting somewhere.”

The Results

The Center is entering the second year of the demonstration project. As staff creates work plans for next year, they are focused on identifying strategies that tie more closely to outcomes. Also, the need to make formal structural changes is top of mind. Andrea notes, “Shelli helped us see how all the different pieces of the integration plan are linked and how the right organizational structure is required to really implement the plan successfully.”