Strategic Planning

The Institute’s first strategic plan guided our activities from 2014 through 2019. This plan was developed in early 2013 before there was an Institute. It took shape while we were still deciding what we wanted the Institute to become, what its goals should be, and how to be effective and efficient in achieving our goals (some said we were “building the airplane while flying it”). More of a “strategic master plan” than a set of goals with tactics and specific initiatives, the plan identified five major strategies that were intended to highlight the essential roles the Institute could play in bringing people together to transform early childhood care, education, and practice in Nebraska, the nation, and beyond. In addition to the five strategies, the plan included suggested activities—many of which were implemented over the course of our first five years, as reflected in the work described in Chapters 3–7.

As a new organization, we understood that our strategies could only be refined over time. We also noted that available funding would play a significant part in what we chose to devote our energies to. Although the Institute had a historic endowment, no additional funding from the university over and above the match to the donor’s initial gift was promised or expected. Thus, all programs of the Institute not covered by earnings on the endowment were dependent on securing adequate public and private financial support (see Chapter 8). As our work progressed and additional funding support was acquired over time to meet our goals, our activities and commitments became more finely demarcated, as reflected in the objectives of our second strategic plan.

In 2020 we published a five-year strategic plan to guide our work through 2025. Building on what we learned since becoming operational, the current plan includes four goals, each encompassing several distinct objectives. These goals reflect what we want to be known for and what we are committed to, while also identifying new challenges for the future. They give definition to our vision, mission, and values, and they reflect our understanding that achieving our goals is dependent in part on our day-to-day organizational health. All our current activities are aligned with one or more of these goals through processes of project and portfolio management, as described in Chapter 8.