Strategic Plan 2019-2021 Released
Forty years ago, our founders defined IAIA’s purpose as “the betterment of society through the encouragement of improved policy making processes concerning the analysis of the future consequences of present decisions.â€
In addition, our founders established us as a public charity, similar to Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, Human Rights Watch, and The American Red Cross. This means IAIA not only needs to meet the needs of its members, but its activities should also benefit the greater world.
I had both of those concepts in mind when I began well over a year ago to develop a new IAIA Strategic Plan in conjunction with the Board of Directors. It became evident to me early on that IAIA’s Vision and Mission statements should be re-imagined. This exercise would serve to more firmly connect us to our roots tied to the “betterment of society.†It would also set us on a course toward the horizon not only with a more prominent public face, but also with the goals of a more equitable society and a sustainable environment.
The IAIA Board of Directors decided to dedicate the final half of 2019 to the arduous task of honing and wordsmithing the Vision and Mission statements—ones that would ring true to our members, define us properly to the foundation community, and be relevant to individual givers. To do so, the Board held numerous task force meetings and benefited from the expertise of communications specialists. As a result, the Board of Directors has approved the refreshed Vision and Mission Statements:
The Strategic Plan entitled “Tapping Our Roots. Reaching the Sky†was mostly completed by IAIA19 in Brisbane. However, because we felt it was important to include the refreshed Vision and Mission statements in the new Strategic Plan, we decided to wait to unveil the 2019-2021 Strategic Plan at this time.
As you review the document, you will see that strategic area #1, “Elevating IAIA Profile on the World Stage,†is brand new. An increased emphasis of having IAIA mentioned in traditional and social media as a thought leader on impact assessment will both have direct and indirect benefits for our members. As IAIA builds the voice of impact assessment in making wiser decisions through the world, it should also have a ripple effect of increasing the number of assessments that should be performed.
Lastly, as an organization it is difficult to move issues forward without adequate financial resources. IAIA as a charity benefits from being able to receive foundation dollars and to provide individuals with tax deductions for their donations. This plan starts the process of IAIA’s being able to include those sources in our funding mix. IAIA’s Innovation Grants, Student and Young Professional Bursary, and Cultural Inclusiveness Bursary may be prime programs to receive gifts from individuals.
I look forward to working with all of you on the successful implementation of this plan. If you have any questions or suggestions, I welcome your comments.
David Bancroft, IAIA Executive Director
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