Hello Everyone –

The new year is coming, and I’m excited about the possibilities for Aspire in 2022.

Every organization goes through cycles of growth and development. You may recall that our last strategic plan, Vision 2020, was successful in bringing Aspire’s various locations, service areas, and departments together.

Aspire started another leg of our journey as a unified organization. We have begun the process of creating a new three-year strategic plan.

My expectation is that the new plan will set the course towards a vision for the future, while at the same time helping us build our capacity to respond quickly and effectively to an ever-changing external environment. The strategic plan itself will be a living document that can be adjusted if our organizational priorities need to shift as the future demands.

At the end of last summer, we engaged an external consultant, Cathy Clark of HKS, Inc., to assist the Board of Directors and executive team in developing the new strategic plan. Cathy and her colleague, Lelani O’Connell, have gathered extensive information about Aspire. They have conducted interviews and surveyed internal and external stakeholders to better understand what people think about Aspire. They compiled and analyzed the data and developed a list of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for presentation to the board and executive team.

On December 11, the board of directors hosted a retreat to review the findings and develop a vision for the future, along with broad goals and objectives. Cathy and Lelani are now working on the final report and strategic plan, which will go to the board for approval no later than the March Board meeting.

We’ve just celebrated our 40 year anniversary, and the new strategic plan will help us launch the next 40 years. I am very grateful to be on this journey with all of you, and I wish you and yours all the best for the winter holidays and the new year.

Warm regards,

Lou

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What’s Ahead for Aspire in 2022