CES Strategic Plan 2023-2028

Background

The Collaborative for Educational Services (CES) is a public nonprofit, 501(3)c educational service agency. Since 1974, CES has worked with children, youth, and adult learners, families, schools, districts, educators, and community members and organizations in Pioneer Valley and across New England.

In the fall of 2020, CES commissioned the services of Strategy Matters to facilitate the development of a comprehensive five-year strategic plan outlining a clear path to ensure continued success in current areas of strength, continued advancement on work related to diversity, equity and inclusion, and a high performing, agile team able to work collaboratively in uncertain times for schools and communities. 

At each stage in the more than two-year process, our consultants and the Strategic Planning Committee sought to keep the process as inclusive of all voices, both CES staff and external stakeholders as possible, as we established the SWOT; the Mission, Vision, and Values; and the ultimate Goals and Objectives. Opportunities for participation included surveys and focus groups, interviews, and all-CES town halls, Board meetings, and other group meetings. In addition, consultants did a complete review and deep dive in multiple CES documents. 

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Implementing the Plan

The CES Strategic Plan Committee (SPC) will continue to communicate out on the Plan to staff, and share details on the agency Intranet, as well as in virtual meetings with staff. We hope to engage with staff in thinking together about how their own department work aligns with the plan goals and progresses our agency forward.  

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Sections of the final Strategic Plan:

Please click links below.

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Organization Philosophy

  • Land Acknowledgement
  • Mission
  • Vision
  • Values
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Plan Goals and Objectives

  • Goal 1: We will more deeply align our educational philosophies and practices with our commitment to liberation from all forms of oppression.
    • Objective 1.1  Centering the voices of participants, especially those at the margins, in the development of educational curricula, professional development opportunities, and program and service offerings.
    • Objective 1.2 Supporting educators, schools, districts, and our own programs to decolonize the curriculum, through professional development, technical assistance, and the identification of high-quality curricula.
    • Objective 1.3 Supporting all learners, especially historically marginalized and oppressed groups, low-income students and families, and students in special education settings, to attain their visions for their futures by creating access to both educational and career pathways, as well as equitable access to health and wellness opportunities.
    • Objective 1.4 Recognizing that climate change impacts both current and future generations of learners, CES will intentionally pursue teaching, learning, and decision-making that applies a climate justice lens.
  • Goal 2: We will ensure that CES is a supportive, flexible, inclusive, and sustainable organizatiion.
    • Objective 2.1 Recruit, develop, and retain a diverse, talented workforce by ensuring a culture of equity and inclusion. We will do this by:
      • changing policies and practices to provide greater pay for staff along with parity in benefits, lateral salary levels, and by providing greater flexibility in work conditions.
      • developing and implementing a shared SJE literacy that is part of our expected staff onboarding and continual professional development requirements,
      • confronting white supremacy work culture and rushed decision-making by nurturing a culture of self-care, joy and accountability.
    • Objective 2.2 Develop a plan for growth that is values-aligned and informed by healthy risk-taking rather than a scarcity mindset so that we will strengthen organizational infrastructure and administrative support for all programs and services through robust financial capacity, effective operational systems, and relevant technology.
    • Objective 2.3 Cultivate a culture of service across the organization by expanding and deepening relationships with communities, organizations, private and public funders, and appointed and elected officials to grow collaborative projects, and diversify and increase funding sources to ensure that our values and strategic commitments are appropriately aligned with our work.
    • Objective 2.4 Invest in changes to our built environments to enhance formal and informal opportunities for collaboration, and to increase flexibility to provide for mixed uses.
  • Goal 3: We will increase the diversity of perspectives informing our work and our decision-making.
    • Objective 3.1 Strengthening and expanding relationships with communities that support our work through educational practices and the SJE platform as well as internal programming and external community-run programs.
    • Objective 3.2 Developing structured mechanisms for the input and participation of program recipients, especially people of the global majority, into program design and organizational decision making, in an effort to heed their advocacy to center efforts to dismantle white supremacy culture across organizations and broader systems.
    • Objective 3.3 Being an accessible resource for public advocacy that reflects the community-based work of many departments at CES and our legislative advocacy work on behalf of member districts by providing a unified and shared voice to raise challenges and concerns faced by educators, districts, and community members.
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SWOT Analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats

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Full, Detailed Version of CES 2023-2028 Strategic Plan

You can download the full version with Appendix, background, and links to source documents by clicking the link above. On this page, we have also provided you with links to the key sections of the strategic plan. These may be easier to navigate initially.

In a CES virtual celebration on October 18th, CES staff members shared out about the 23-28 Strategic Plan, and its various components. We thought that perspective was helpful, and so you’ll find here a link to the video recording of the October 18th celebration and kickoff. Please feel free to click and view all or part of that recording!

–Your Strategic Planning Committee

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Your CES Strategic Planning Committee

The strategic planning process and oversight of the development of all of the component parts of the plan was guided by the thoughtful and diligent work of CES’ strategic planning committee.

Current Members:

  • Karen Reuter (Chair)
  • José Lugo
  • Mike Maticke
  • S.Clarke Bankert
  • Desiree Lalbeharie-Josias
  • Liza Manchester
  • Sarah Molloy

Past Members:

  • Gladys Franco
  • Bill Diehl
  • Kathy Levesque
  • Isolda Ortega-Bustamante
  • Todd Gazda
  • Romina Pacheco
  • Gwynne Morrissey
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