I am excited to share with you the Northwest Outward Bound School 2021 – 2023 Strategic Framework. As an organization, we’ve finally reached the point of this pandemic where we can look ahead, move forward with plans for the future and be invigorated by the opportunities that lie ahead. We know that some things will be different and that many things will not be. Not everything should go back to exactly how it was before March 2020.
At this juncture, we are looking ahead to a busy summer season packed with much-needed student programming, while also reflecting and processing what we’ve learned over the last many months. After cancelling nearly all NWOBS programs in 2020, we’ve come back stronger and re-evaluated our purpose, direction and impact as an organization.
This three-year framework aims to extend our efforts to deepen community engagement and intensify our self reflection and learning in support of our equity, inclusion and diversity goals. This is not a radical shift from our current focus and much of the work is already underway, but this plan will give us additional shared language and crystalize the importance of this work — and hopefully accelerate progress.
Backstopped by the core mission and values of Outward Bound, our ambition for the next three years is:
To build a school that is deeply connected with the communities we serve, provides culturally relevant programming, and takes bold and authentic actions on equity, inclusion, and diversity — all in support of creating exceptional outcomes for every NWOBS student.
We’ve identified four key areas to focus our work:
- Invest in Exceptional Student Outcomes
- Build Community & Partnerships
- Be Bold & Authentic in our Equity, Inclusion & Diversity Actions
- Develop a Resilient Operational Model
Further details on the Strategic Framework can be found here: www.nwobs.org/framework. These goals are interconnected and interdependent. Each section outlines distinct opportunities to positively shape the future of our organization and the futures of our students, yet we will only be successful in any one of these areas if we are successful in the others.
Our Strategic Framework is purposefully high level and will serve as our compass for the expedition ahead. We don’t know all the steps we’ll take and in some areas we are still figuring out what to pack. Yet our time navigating the pandemic has made it clear that the trail we started on was the right one, even if our itinerary may change or our pace needs to accelerate. Whether you are a student, parent, partner or donor, thank you for accompanying us on this expedition.
-Marc Heisterkamp, NWOBS Executive Director