Our 2022 Strategic Plan: What’s shifting, what’s staying the same
December 21, 2021
It’s been four years since we launched Encompass, and I’m immensely proud of what we’ve accomplished. Now that we’ve secured our footing in the farmed animal protection movement and have had some time to implement our initial programs, we can’t help but reflect on what’s worked and what hasn’t.
As we move into 2022, we’re sharing our Strategic Plan so you can see what’s in store.
For Organizations
– Our biggest shift is in our services for farmed animal protection organizations. Until now, we offered a select number of groups consulting services to better integrate racial equity into their work cultures. We’ve worked with eleven groups advancing a range of initiatives. Now, we’re shifting approaches and will soon launch a membership program to interface with a larger number of groups.
The program will be a virtual cohort of organizations committed to advancing racial equity through implementing structural changes and engaging in a community of practice in the animal protection movement. Member organizations will develop solutions, advance initiatives, build connections, and access and share educational resources to further their racial equity work individually and collectively.
– We will also pivot away from our 2-day (12 hour) intensive institutes and will offer 3 shorter-term training opportunities for movement advocates over the course of the year, each training will be a few hours. They will be led by Encompass consultant, Joshua V. Barr, on topics most important to the movement — examples include: equity 101; unconscious bias; and courageous conversations to create more inclusive workspaces.
– Our first research project, done in collaboration with Equity Based Dialogue for Inclusion, is near completion and in January we expect to launch a report with their findings. The goal is to better understand racial inequity and propose solutions through data.
For Advocates
– Our support for Black, Indigenous, and all animal advocates of the global majority will be very similar to this year. Instead of hosting a 4-month Executive Development Cohort we’ll focus on hosting a Pitch Day and offering fundraising support. The biggest need we hear from Black, Indigenous, and people of the global majority (BIPGM) is the need to be connected to funding opportunities and advice on how to get there. So we’re reforming our work to support those needs.
– We’ll continue to offer community building events and are expanding to offer various types of monthly virtual community building sessions open to all BIPGM Caucus members.
– Earlier this year, we launched our Talent Database to uplift the brilliance of BIPGM across the globe who are interested in accessing paid staff positions (including leadership posts), board openings, speaking opportunities, and consulting gigs. We expect to recruit over 100 BIPGM in 2022!
Internal Analysis
By way of full transparency, we offer details on our operations, governance, finance and development, budget, and potential future growth opportunities in the Strategic Plan itself. For the sake of this blog, I’m sharing our org-wide SWOT analysis.
Strengths
Tailored and unique racial equity support and offerings for the movement
Significant authentic connections across the U.S. sector of the movement
Expertise on farmed animal protection issues and movement
Expertise in racial equity concepts and implementation
Leading by example, e.g.: racial representation of staff, leadership/decision-makers, board; work-life balance; pay transparency; open communication; etc.
Nimble
Financial health
Project execution, e.g.: book, research project, training, etc.
Weaknesses
Understaffed for program implementation
Talent database user experience is subpar and technology isn’t sufficient
Finance comprehension
Opportunities
Caucus growth and engagement
Social media
More collaborations outside the movement
Membership program
Additional research
Book outreach
Global expansion
Speaking engagements
Threats
White supremacy culture; in individuals, organizations, and the movement
Lack of interest in Encompass’ programs/offerings
No succession plan
Not consistent on what types of events we respond to both internally in the movement and in society/globally
I hope this inspires you to check out our full Strategic Plan! Please let us know what you think.