if your strategy is sitting on a shelf, it’s not working.
most plans fail because they’re built in a boardroom and handed down – we build them from the ground up with the people who will carry it forward.
when strategic planning breaks down, you might be feeling:
- You have a plan that hasn’t taken root
- People work hard but not in the same direction
- Big decisions get made without everyone bought in
- The future feels uncertain and harder to predict
- There’s pressure to move fast without full clarity
There’s a different way to build strategy.
Most organizations treat strategy as something you define and deliver.
We treat it as something you build together.
The result isn’t just a stronger plan.
It’s a direction people understand, believe in, and are ready to move forward.
What We Do
strategic planning
Designing participatory processes to define direction, priorities, and goals with the people who will carry them forward.
ecosystem alignment
Bringing coalitions into shared direction to create clarity and coordination across distributed systems.
program execution
Turning strategy into tangible programs and initiatives designed to create real impact.
our community-guided method
Discover the 6-step planning framework that has been trusted by leaders around the world. The method positions your organization as a blank canvas in which to invite a community to co-create their shared future together.
1: Chart your path
Define the future you want to create and work backward to define what success actually looks like.
2: Ask probing questions
Engage people across the system to surface insight, patterns, and perspectives that shape the direction.
3: Name Early Adopters
Identify the people who are already leaning in and can help build momentum across the organization.
4: Visualize a Prototype
Build the strategy in the open through visible drafts that evolve over time.
5: Articulate Your Story
Clarify the emerging narrative so people understand where you’re going and why it matters.
6: Sustain Efforts with Partners
Keep the work moving by embedding it with the partners and people who carry it forward.
Articulate Your Story
Clarify the emerging narrative so people understand where you’re going and why it matters.Download our free guide
This 10-page guide will walk you through how to use the Community-Guided Method in any situation
stop building strategies no one uses.
Build one people are ready to carry forward – together.
strategy in action
case studies
Penn State Outreach
Transforming University Outreach Efforts through a Collaborative Strategic Planning Process
Tell Me How
Penn State Outreach wanted its one-day Imagination Summit to spark real collaboration across a community that usually works in silos. We designed an interactive process then kept the energy alive with a year of virtual follow-on sessions feeding the organization’s strategic plan.
The result: 200+ professionals generated 30 concrete collaborative initiatives (several launched immediately), and the momentum flowed straight into a co-created strategic plan — moving Outreach, in its VP’s words, “from silos to synergy.”
MentorCloud + Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center
Strengthened the community engagement strategy for a global mentoring initiative
Tell Me How
MentorCloud, the world’s leading mentoring software platform, knew technology alone doesn’t create engagement. Over six months with its CEO and leadership team, we built a community strategy and ran five virtual Connection Cafés — including events for the NASDAQ Entrepreneurial Center’s global Mentor Makers movement — bringing together 500+ participants from 30+ countries.
The result: 80% of participants left more likely to use the product, 9.5/10 called it the best virtual event they’d ever attended, and MentorCloud reshaped its platform around what we learned.
PA Digital
Reimagining the Future of a Statewide Digital-Access Coalition
Tell Me How
PA Digital is a statewide coalition making Pennsylvania’s cultural heritage accessible online. With the work spread across many disparate institutions and facing funding changes, it needed one shared direction. Over the course of a year, we guided its task force and 100+ stakeholders through a discovery-to-reflection process, turning a wide range of voices into a single co-created roadmap.
The result: a Futures Report and change-management plan the coalition could actually act on — a new vision, an implementation timeline, and the alignment to navigate the transition ahead.
PAsmart, Pennsylvania Department of Education
Developed strategic plan to align STEM and Computer Science workforce development efforts across PA
Tell Me How
Across Pennsylvania, powerful STEM and computer science work was happening everywhere, but without a unifying framework it was hard to coordinate, measure collective impact, or tell one statewide story. Working with the PA Department of Education, we built the PAsmart strategy with the people doing the work — a shared framework of 10 key supporting activities, goals and metrics, and a living Impact Tracker.
The result: a co-created strategy that helps leaders make better decisions, collaborate more effectively, and build a stronger case for continued statewide investment in STEM + CS.
who we do this for
This work spans sectors. See where we work, or jump straight to yours:
Looking to simply host a collaborative gathering? Explore Events
faq
What does a strategic planning facilitator do?
What is community-guided strategic planning?
How long does a strategic planning process take?
Do you only do strategy, or also the events that go with it?
Both, and they often work together. A gathering can activate the energy and a strategy process channels it into lasting change. Explore Events → to see the convening side of the work.