Lyons-Newman Consulting led a strategic planning process for Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI) in 2020-2021. AACI was founded in 1973 by community advocates to support and advocate for Southeast Asian refugees and has grown to become a leading community based organization in Santa Clara County focused on providing culturally responsive health and wellness services to marginalized and vulnerable, primarily low income community members of all ages. AACI services include trauma informed and culturally sensitive primary care, behavioral health, gender based violence prevention, specialized services for refugees and survivors of political torture, HIV education and prevention, youth leadership and substance abuse prevention and treatment and senior wellness services. As a Federally Qualified Health Center, AACI’s programs are accessible to all in need, without regard to their immigration status or their ability to pay.

AACI needed a roadmap for how to best respond to changing market trends and the cultural needs of its community, and best integrate and optimize its portfolio of programs serving community members in over 40 languages. It wanted an inclusive approach that incorporated market research, constituent engagement, and best practices in the field. Lyons-Newman Consulting conducted key informant interviews and other research, produced a report on assessment findings, facilitated strategic planning committee meetings and board strategic planning meetings, and co-created a three-year strategic plan adopted by the AACI Board of Directors including strategic priorities, goals, strategies, and success indicators.

AACI's three-year strategic plan prioritizes:

• The integration of its various culturally responsive health and wellness programs

• Strategies to enhance community members' access to services, and clients’ experiences and health outcomes

• Its role in policy advocacy

AACI’s energized and aligned board and executive leadership team are prepared to implement these strategic priorities and adapt to take on challenges ahead.

Legal Assistance to the Elderly (LAE) engaged Lyons-Newman Consulting to create an inclusive process for a growth-oriented five-year strategic plan. 

For over 40 years, LAE has provided free legal services that protect and advance the right of San Francisco’s seniors and adults with disabilities to be housed, healthy, financially stable, and safe.

LAE has quadrupled its staff over the past five years and is poised for more growth, thanks to its high quality legal services and case success rate combined with an increased need among older adults and adults with disabilities. LAE’s leadership team needed a clear strategy to build upon its strong foundation and intentionally prepare for future expansion.

Engaging the voices of LAE’s clients and community partners provided an initial compass to steer the strategic planning process. Using interactive facilitation techniques and tools such as our online virtual whiteboard, our team facilitated engaging, challenging, interactive, and fun team-building planning sessions. Through interactive dialogue and ideation sessions, LAE’s board and staff assessed the organization’s landscape and unique capabilities, and explored and ultimately decided on priorities for the next five years.

The strategic plan articulates LAE’s theory of change, and commits it to priorities that the board and staff are aligned and driven to implement together, including:

• Expanding program and service capacity, particularly for seniors and adults with disabilities needing support to retain their housing or public benefits. In broadening these services, LAE will deepen its holistic approach by providing expanded social work support in concert with legal support services.

• Deepening LAE’s presence in San Francisco’s communities by expanding legal clinics in diverse neighborhoods and at additional community partner organizations, and by extending LAE’s multilingual and multicultural staff capacity.

• Enhancing LAE’s visibility with clients, partners, policy-makers, and donors, including by building regional and city-wide networks of legal services organizations that serve seniors.

Lyons-Newman Consulting supported the AIDS Legal Referral Panel (ALRP) in developing a three-year strategic plan in service of people living with HIV/AIDS. ALRP sought to develop a strategy to respond to the dramatically changing needs among the population it served.

As people living with HIV/AIDS today have access to treatments and are living into old age, the organization needed to shift its strategy and services to meet the changing circumstances and needs of its clients.

Through a collaborative planning process engaging board members, staff, and external partners, we facilitated a process with ALRP resulting in a plan that was both reflective of the needs of the community and adaptive to a rapidly evolving external landscape.

Audubon Canyon Ranch (ACR) engaged Lyons-Newman Consulting in 2018 to develop a strategic plan to advance the organization’s regional conservation efforts and fulfill its mission. ACR was facing major shifts in its local environment, climate, demographics of program participants, and other internal and external factors. The organization sought to intentionally respond to changes and plan proactively to anticipate the needs of the future, while also ensuring to preserve important and relevant elements of the organization’s past.

Through a six-month planning process, Lyons-Newman Consulting facilitated a board and staff planning team, assessed data including internal and external interviews, surveys, secondary research, and community meetings, and conducted a thorough collaborative assessment of the organization’s programs, co-creating a strategy that aligned with ACR’s mission, vision, and values and providing a roadmap for ACR’s future.

For nearly 40 years, East Bay Housing Organizations (EBHO) and its network of members have advocated to produce, preserve, and protect affordable housing opportunities for low-income communities in the East Bay. 

EBHO’s staff and membership base grew since its prior strategic plan, and the pandemic affected the way the organization was conducting its advocacy and organizing work. In addition, the organization was grappling with how to continue orienting around a justice framework and have its diverse staff advance a pro-Black and intersectional approach to the work. EBHO needed to both clarify its role and the role of its members in the housing justice movement and determine priorities that best position it to promote the production, preservation, and protection of affordable housing in the most effective ways.

The Lyons-Newman team engaged EBHO’s staff and board at their annual retreat, and then listened to the voices of community members and EBHO’s members in interviews, a survey, and focus groups. With EBHO’s strategic planning committee, we digested this information and used interactive online tools to generate ideas to forward our conversations and brainstorm about priorities for EBHO’s future. The committee then used that to craft EBHO’s new strategic plan.

EBHO’s four-year strategic plan includes refreshed identity statements, including a new theory of change and intended impact, and commits it to priorities that the board and staff are aligned and driven to implement together, including deepening impact in East Bay cities, shifting local electoral decision-making power and representation in policy leadership, fortifying and diversifying the housing justice movement and the affordable housing field by embodying collaborative and equity-centered goals and values, and changing broader housing systems, resources, and policies towards holistic and equitable ways of building communities. 

Sunflower Hill creates places and spaces where adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities live, work, learn, and thrive as part of the greater community. The organization co-develops affordable housing communities and offers virtual and in-person programs for adults with disabilities in Pleasanton, Livermore, and the Bay Area, California. 

In our collaborative planning process with the organization leading to Sunflower Hill’s 2021–2025 Strategic Plan, Sunflower Hill clarified its identity with refreshed vision, mission, and values statements. It also identified strategic priorities and goals for the next five years including to co-develop three new projects with 100 units of affordable housing, as well as design and implement training for families and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to transition to independent living. 

The City of Vallejo engaged Lyons-Newman Consulting from 2017 to 2020 to lead a community planning process for its Participatory Budgeting initiative, a democratic process in which community members make recommendations to the City Council on how to spend the City’s budget. 

Developed first in Brazil in 1989, Participatory Budgeting is now practiced in over 7,000 cities around the world1. In 2012, The City of Vallejo established the first city-wide Participatory Budgeting process in the United States.

Lyons-Newman Consulting facilitated 39 planning sessions for dozens of community Budget Delegate volunteers and community members. Planning sessions supported these community leaders to collaboratively assess community needs, develop project ideas, and build consensus on 12 final projects each year to advance to the City of Vallejo Participatory Budgeting ballot and voted on by residents. Our team supported budget delegates to develop their proposals and engaged the Participatory Budgeting Steering Committee members, volunteers, and other stakeholders throughout the planning process.

More information about the City of Vallejo’s Participatory Budgeting Project can be found here.

La Raza CRC is a bilingual, multi-service, nonprofit organization dedicated to meeting the social service, immigration, educational, and leadership development needs of low-income families and individuals in San Francisco’s Mission District and the greater Bay Area.

Why La Raza CRC partnered with Lyons-Newman Consulting: 

Following the retirement of La Raza CRC’s long-time executive director and a period of increased urgency and stress for the organization due to the pandemic, La Raza CRC wanted to take a step back and understand its structural, staffing, leadership development, and other capacity building needs to support teamwork and mission effectiveness in the organization’s future.

The process: 

Lyons-Newman Consulting took a collaborative approach to the organizational assessment process that included La Raza CRC’s staff, board of directors, and external informants. We conducted a bilingual organizational assessment survey of board and staff and interviewed funders, board members, and experts in the field to assess the organization’s current state. We then produced a report that identified strengths and opportunities for improvement across 13 areas of organizational effectiveness. Through meetings with staff, we worked together to develop and refine these opportunities for improvement and determine recommendations and priority actions to support La Raza CRC’s effectiveness and deepen its impact.

The results:

The assessment report and recommendations provided by Lyons-Newman Consulting to La Raza CRC’s staff and board of directors guided and prepared the organization to update its organizational structure, build internal infrastructure, and work even more effectively as a team in service of the organization’s mission.

Rising Sun is a nonprofit organization working at the intersection of economic equity and climate resilience empowering individuals to achieve environmental and economic sustainability via green training, employment, and residential efficiency programs. Rising Sun engaged Lyons-Newman Consulting to lead its strategic planning process and also to facilitate board development and training. Board development support included designing a process in partnership with the executive director and board chair, facilitating two board retreats, and individual board member engagement contracts. Rising Sun’s 2017–2020 strategic plan prioritized the organization’s policy focus to advance social and environmental systems change as well as elevating Rising Sun’s local and national leadership.

For over 15 years, Grateful Heart Holistic Therapy Center has helped pre-licensed mental health clinicians gain training hours required for licensure while providing affordable psychotherapy to individuals, couples, and families.

Why Grateful Heart partnered with Lyons-Newman Consulting: 

Following several years of programmatic growth, Grateful Heart’s internal operations, staffing, and infrastructure had not kept up with its programmatic expansion. Grateful Heart’s executive director was straddling two roles and wanted to transition to focusing solely on leading its clinical services and programs. The team was also ripe to explore their priorities, collective vision, and aspirations for the future, which included gaining a better understanding of how it could most effectively staff the organization to support its mission. 

The process: 

Lyons-Newman Consulting conducted interviews with internal and external constituents to assess the organization’s current state, unique capabilities, and strategic positioning. We also led visioning sessions with Grateful Heart’s board, clinicians, anti-racist committee, and staff to form a collective vision of its future. Based on this research, the next step was a SWOT and gap analysis to assess and make recommendations across nine key areas.

The results:

The assessment report and recommendations provided by Lyons-Newman Consulting to Grateful Heart’s Board of Directors guided and prepared the organization to reorganize its staff, hire an Interim Executive Director, and rearticulate its foundational aspirations, tenets, and vision for the organization’s future. 

Peers Envisioning & Engaging in Recovery Services (PEERS) is a peer-based behavioral health nonprofit in Oakland. Founded in 2001, PEERS provides culturally responsive, peer-based wellness strategies to people with mental health challenges and works to eliminate mental health stigma and discrimination in the community. It supports people in choosing how they tend to their mental health and recognizing their value in the community.

Why PEERS partnered with Lyons-Newman Consulting:

PEERS had recently emerged from a period of instability following multiple leadership changes within a few years and the need to refresh programs after the pandemic. With their new executive director at the helm, PEERS’ board and staff team was ready to hone in on the organization’s unique identity and chart the path for their next five years.

The process:

We started by partnering with PEERS to construct a diverse strategic planning committee (SPC) that included both staff and board. With input from the full board and staff, the SPC first explored and confirmed PEERS’ mission and vision and crafted the research plan.

The research plan centered the voices of those with lived experience, including by interviewing and surveying PEERS’ program participants. Additionally, we interviewed and surveyed PEERS’ staff, board, and external informants, which provided the SPC with insights on PEERS’ current state and potential future opportunities. The SPC also evaluated PEERS’ current and potential future programs using a customized strategy screen we developed to surface the most important and viable programs that will meet community needs and fit with PEERS’ strategic positioning. Then, the committee explored strategic directions and made decisions about PEERS’ strategic priorities and goals for the next five years.

Throughout the process, the SPC members deepened their connections with each other and the organization, while taking a leadership role in engaging other staff, board members, program participants, and external partners.

The results:

PEERS’ five-year strategic plan provides clarity on its unique identity and commits the organization to priorities and goals that the board and staff are aligned on and driven to implement together, including to:

• Launch sustainable, individual-level services in addition to existing group services

• Engage program participants through increased presence in the community

• Elevate the voices of those with lived mental health experiences to advocate for themselves

What Community Solutions does:

Community Solutions supports children, teens, families, and adults who are facing times of crisis ranging from mental health and substance use challenges, to domestic and sexual violence, trauma, and human trafficking. They provide a comprehensive spectrum of prevention, intervention, treatment, and residential services in Santa Clara and San Benito Counties. They serve more than 7,000 clients per year and have approximately 365 staff members.

Why Community Solutions partnered with Lyons-Newman Consulting:

Community Solutions was drawn to our focus on community engagement, equity, flexibility, and intentionality. In addition, Community Solutions shares our commitment to authentic listening, our values, and our inclusive approach to the planning process.

The process:

In close partnership with the Strategic Planning Committee, we co-led an inclusive strategic planning process inspired by our community organizing approach to planning, including a research design and community engagement plan to inform and iterate on the plan. Community Solutions consistently strived to center relationships and the principles of Conscious Leadership. Hundreds of people informed the plan, including staff, clients, partner agencies, board members, and community and local elected leaders.

Mission and vision sessions honed in on the core essence of Community Solutions’ identity and unique role in the community. We conducted interviews with key constituents, and led focus groups with clients and Community Solutions’ DEI committee. We synthesized the findings into an actionable Discovery Report, which informed a collaborative ideation process that generated insights and ideas about Community Solutions’ future. The Strategic Planning Committee also created and led regular “staff pulse dialogues,” cascading clear communications to staff members at all levels and providing opportunities for all staff to engage in the process and contribute to developing strategies.

After we collaboratively developed and then finalized the strategic plan, we developed an Implementation Plan that will document staff’s progress towards specific action items to implement strategies. A new Measurement Plan will track Community Solutions’ progress towards their strategic goals over time.

The results:

Community Solutions’ three-year strategic plan articulates their refreshed mission, vision, values, strategic priorities, goals, and strategies. Some of their key strategic decisions include:

• Providing culturally responsive, community-informed, research-based, and effective services. They will focus on strengthening existing services and systems of care before pursuing new lines of business.

• Deepening their current focus on cultivating a diverse, engaged, and well cared for workforce. They will ensure that the organization’s new values are incorporated into all policies and practices, and they will develop and implement an agency-wide DEI plan.

• Strengthening their presence and impact in south Santa Clara County. They will develop a collaborative plan with community stakeholders to identify and help fill gaps, while adapting to significant external changes in the fields of behavioral healthcare and survivor advocacy.

About Pacifica Resource Center:

Pacifica Resource Center (PRC) is a local, community-based organization founded in 1974. It is the go-to organization in Pacifica for individuals seeking assistance to maintain their housing, acquire groceries and basic needs, and access social and other financial supports. PRC’s holistic, non-judgmental, practical, and flexible approach emphasizes supporting the people they serve to achieve long-term economic security and stability.

Why Pacifica Resource Center partnered with Lyons-Newman Consulting:

The pandemic caused an increased need for PRC’s services. The community was also experiencing mounting tensions over houselessness, including acts of unkindness and frustration toward unhoused people and the Pacifica Resource Center. PRC wanted to understand which programs to expand, retract, stop, or start; their role in leading the community to compassionately respond to vulnerable neighbors; and also how they could better center diversity, equity, and inclusion in their programs and organization.

The process:

Adults standing in small groups and talking outsideWe first collaborated with PRC’s strategic planning committee to understand the organization’s identity and also to co-design our research plan.Then, we collected feedback from the staff and board through a survey and conducted interviews with PRC’s clients and external informants to assess PRC’s current state and its strategic positioning and to understand what constituents most want from PRC. With the full staff and board, we facilitated a retreat to strengthen the team, explore PRC’s options, and make decisions on strategic priorities based on research findings. The committee then refined these decisions to create PRC’s strategic plan.

The results:

PRC’s three-year strategic plan articulates their strategic positioning, values, and diversity, equity, and inclusion principles. It commits the organization to goals that the board and staff are aligned on and driven to implement together, including to:

• Educate community leaders and raise awareness about and compassion toward vulnerable community members.

• Extend PRC’s reach in the community to serve 25% more people/households who need their services, and partner with local schools to provide a safe place where people served by PRC can explore all their viable options.

• Develop new programs that respond to community needs.

• Strengthen PRC’s networks and establish new and deepened partnerships with local government, other community service organizations, and community leaders.