CLIENT EXAMPLE

Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta

CHALLENGE

The Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta, like many youth-serving organizations, is facing a number of strategic challenges and shifts in the external landscape.  The Board and staff leadership selected Greenway Strategy Group to design and implement a strategic planning approach that would focus on the most critical opportunities to enhance program impact and relevance, while maintaining alignment with the Girl Scout’s strong legacy and historical mission.

OUR APPROACH

  • Conducted focus groups with adult volunteers and Girl Scouts at all levels

  • Interviewed key partners, and current and potential supporters

  • Designed and executed a survey of parents of non-returning Girl Scouts

  • Engaged all staff of the organization in providing and prioritizing anonymous input about the organization’s challenges and opportunities using our community engagement resource, Thought Exchange

  • Compiled and analyzed past performance in ways that provided new insights

  • Created benchmark comparisons with similar Girl Scout councils across the U.S.

  • Conducted analysis of demographic trends in the local community as well as shifts in girl preferences and behaviors for out-of-school time activities

  • Facilitated the design of a strategic direction, working through a Strategic Planning Group of staff, volunteers, and board members 

  • Supported cross-functional Strategy Teams to conduct learning journeys with organizations addressing similar strategic challenges, research effective practices in other Girl Scout councils, and recommend promising initiatives to achieve the strategic plan outcomes and objectives, which were then refined by the leadership team

  • Facilitated development of implementation action plans for those strategic initiatives selected to launch first

IMPACT

The strategic plan was unanimously endorsed by the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta Board.  The outcomes and objectives of the strategic plan informed the selection of a new CEO.  The strategic plan was translated into a formal report, which the CEO is utilizing to engage current and potential funders and partners in the organization’s future direction.  The organizational structure was redesigned to align with the strategic plan and accelerate implementation.