DRAFT: UEC Strategic Planning Initiative

January 26, 2011

The Core Elements

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Strategic Plan

Mission

Goals

Strategy to meet these goals

Tactics to meet the strategy

Vision

Vision

To create a world where…

• Every urban child can explore the natural world every day of every season of every year of their life

• A mentor can share and guide the child in this adventure, building curiosity and respect for this natural world

• They and others of all ages can come together in a kind of outdoor laboratory: an urban ecology center that educates and inspires people to understand and value nature as motivation for positive change 4

Mission

Goals

Strategy to meet these goals

Tactics to meet the strategy

Vision

Mission

The Urban Ecology Center educates and inspires people to understand and value nature as motivation for positive change, neighborhood by neighborhood. Our Environmental community Centers:

• Provide outdoor science education for urban youth• Protect and use public natural areas, making them safe, accessible and vibrant• Preserve and enhance these natural areas and their surrounding waters• Promote community by offering resources that support learning volunteerism, stewardship, recreation, and camaraderie• Practice and model environmentally responsible behaviors

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Mission

Goals

Strategy to meet these goals

Tactics to meet the strategy

Vision

Approach – Guiding Lenses:

Our guiding lenses provide a way to “see” and evaluate a

new program, partnership or idea for the Center. We look

at these opportunities in seven different ways; an

opportunity must:

1) meet our vision and mission

2) satisfy our educational goals and rationale,

3) address at least one of our established issues,

4) be deemed financially and operationally feasible,

5) be judged as an environmentally sustainable decision,

6) engage the community to fill community needs

7) be fun, creative, or “cool”

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Goals

1) Maximize program reach -- youth, families, adults, and neighborhoods

2) To constantly evaluate and improve every aspect of our program

3) To grow a sustainable base of long term support

• In 5 years: minimally have 3 fully functioning ecologically and economically sustainable branches within Milwaukee County.

• Within a 10 year time frame we will have spawned a minimum of ten new Centers in ten different cities.

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Mission

Goals

Strategy to meet these goals

Tactics to meet the strategy

Vision

10 Specific Goals

1.) Youth: serve five times 2010 (45,000) levels by 2020 (225,000)

2.) Land: steward fifteen times 2010 (20 acres) levels by 2020 (300 acres)

3.) Neighborhoods: serve five times 2010 levels by 2020 – from 2 to 10

4.) Jobs: five times 2010 levels by 2020

5.) Health: program participation increases five times 2010 levels

6.) Service: volunteers increase five times 2010 levels by 2020

7.) Mentors: staff & volunteer service increase five times 2010 levels by 2020

8.) Research: Increase research projects five times 2010 levels by 2020

9.) Environmental Literacy: grow by five times current program participation

10.) Evaluation: add evaluation rigor with launch of 6 figure impact study

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Mission

Goals

Strategy to meet these goals

Tactics to meet the strategy

Vision

6 Specific Strategies

1) Menomonee Valley: Grow a third branch in the Menomonee Valley.

2) Riverside Park: Improve and grow the natural infrastructure with Milwaukee Rotary Centennial Arboretum.

3) Washington Park: Grow sustainable support in Washington Park in order to serve 22 schools in a fully occupied and improved building.

4) Milwaukee Sustainability: Grow administrative, development and physical capacity to support the Milwaukee program and launch nationally.

5) Evaluation/Program Quality: Perfect our programs to best meet our mission while implementing a robust evaluation plan.

6) National Expansion: Dedicate serious time and energy into creating and implementing a national expansion plan.

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Mission

Goals

Strategy to meet these goals

Tactics to meet the strategy

Vision

Income Goal

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Mission

Goals

Strategy to meet these goals

Tactics to meet the strategy

Vision

Y: 2020 Goal X: 09/10 Actual

To diversify our income portfolio such that in ten years our revenue pie chart goes from X to Y

Specific Tactics

1) Menomonee Valley: Solid tactical plan in place

2) Riverside Park: Very good start to a tactical plan

3) Washington Park: Very good start to a tactical plan

4) Milwaukee Sustainability: Needs work, but a good start

5) Evaluation/Program Quality: Needs work, but a good start

6) National Expansion: Conceptual – lots of fun thinking ahead!

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Mission

Goals

Strategy to meet these goals

Tactics to meet the strategy

Vision