Building a Foundational Plan for the Future

THE CLIENT

The Public Law Center (PLC) is a pro-bono law firm that provides access to justice for low-income residents of Orange County, CA.

The issues they assist with range from domestic violence, human trafficking, guardianship, housing, health, bankruptcy, asylum, family law, consumer fraud, immigration, discrimination, and advocacy.

PROJECT SCOPE

With newly minted leadership, PLC was ready to reflect and engage in intentional planning for the future. This was their first Strategic Plan in many years, and the team was eager to ensure that staff were highly engaged and felt ownership over the work.

How we moved PLC Forward:

  • 1. Unearth Their Perspectives

    We facilitated engaging, collaborative sessions with Staff and Board members of over 70 people to generate insights and unearth their perspectives about the past, present, and future of PLC.

  • 2. Qualitative Stakeholder Research

    We conducted rich, qualitative stakeholder research with funders, community-based organization leaders, clients, and legal partners. Further, we re-examined PLC’s Mission and Vision to ensure that we captured any critical shifts in how the organization talked about itself to stakeholders.

  • 3. A Customized Strategic Framework

    Working alongside the PLC core project team, we developed a Strategic Framework that was approved by the Board and has begun to be implemented by staff. To support implementation, The Group Forward has worked alongside staff who are responsible for activating the Strategic Framework, helping them to develop workflows that include objectives, KPIs, and tasks.

The Result

A foundational Strategic Plan to guide PLC into its next three years of evolution, with deep buy-in and engagement from staff and Board.

“The Group Forward made strategic planning easy, engaging, and powerful for our organization. They were able to quickly establish credibility with both our board and staff — not an easy feat — through their warm, caring demeanor and calm professionalism. They were skilled in facilitating all manner and sizes of groups, from a 70-person, all-board, all-staff Visioning Session to intimate focus groups with our clients, community partners, and funders. Most importantly, they helped us to cut through the noise, distill the various viewpoints down into the loudest, clearest points of consensus, and thus build a strong foundation for us to move forward.”

— Monica Eav Glicken, CEO/Executive Director and General Counsel