The Context

We Worthy Women is a non-profit organization based in Nova Scotia working to prevent gender-based violence. The team was seeking support to gain renewed sense of direction as the organization made a pivot. They desired an approach to strategic planning that emphasized broad engagement and context gathering, and a collaborative process to work with Board Members, advisors, and staff to create a shared vision for the organization, and an action plan that would help them get started.

Our Work Together

The project was completed as a collaboration with Jane Ouillette as the lead consultant and facilitator, and April te Bulte as the graphic designer. Our team brought an approach that prioritized the following:

• Applying a decolonized and equity-informed lens in the engagement and facilitation process.

• Listening and learning through a robust engagement and context gathering.

• Creating visual artifacts from the engagement and collaboration steps to enhance learning and alignment

• Building capacity within the organization to use tools such as a Theory of Change that we developed together.

The three-year strategic plan was developed by the Board of Directors, Staff and advisors, and was further informed by insights from a rigorous process of external engagement, review of the organization’s past and current work, and the current context of gender-based violence prevention and response in Nova Scotia.

The plan includes priorities and outcomes that constitute a Theory of Change, which provides direction and clarity on the specific types of initiatives the organization will pursue to advance change. We also developed a set of strategic goals and actions to provide a roadmap for the type of work the organization will aim to complete in the next three years to put the Theory of Change in motion and build momentum.