Plan For Impact

VIA’s Maria Posey and Miranda Beggin is working with the Central Ohio Workforce Development Network (WDN) to facilitate a strategic planning process that will result in the WDN’s first strategic plan. The WDN’s goal is to have a plan that fully reflects the perspectives of its members as well as the needs and priorities of the larger workforce ecosystem in the Columbus Metropolitan Area. The plan should be realistic, include clear outcome measures, and be actively used to guide work going forward. To achieve these goals, VIA is facilitating a comprehensive stakeholder engagement process with interviews, surveys, and focus groups to gather perspectives and priorities from training providers, constituent advocates, employer groups, and economic development agencies. In partnership with a dedicated workgroup, we will analyze insights and align on a narrow set of goals to include in the plan with corresponding outcome metrics. We will validate its feasibility and relevance with relevant stakeholders before presenting it to the WDN Board leadership for approval.

VIA’s Maria Posey led a comprehensive design process for the Pennsylvania State Department of Labor and Industry to develop a state-wide strategic plan to guide coordinated workforce development initiatives across the state for the next four years. Maria oversaw efforts to engage multiple state-level departments, workforce development organizations, diverse community groups, and the general public to provide input and feedback on the plan. Through this work, Pennsylvania DL&I obtained a strategic plan that was not only aligned with federal and state regulations but also tailored to the specific economic and employment needs of Pennsylvania – such as focusing on those with the largest barriers to gainful employment. The work also inspired improved collaboration and alignment across agencies, enhancing the overall efficacy of the state’s workforce development system.

As volunteer President and Chair of the Board of Vecinos Unidos Inc (VU), Maria Posey led the work to develop the organization’s five-year strategic plan. VU offers after-school tutoring and homework assistance to Herndon students who do not speak English as their first language at home. Following COVID, VU had lost nearly all volunteers and students and Maria was asked to revamp the program when she took over as President in 2021. Through a BootCamp-style strategy day, Maria guided the full board through an exercise to update the organizational mission; brainstorm recovery and growth ideas; discuss options; and, through consensus-based decision-making, agree on goals and targets for the next five years. For example, the board decided to prioritize growing and deepening VU’s presence in Herndon as compared to branching out into other communities in Northern Virginia. They decided against continuing the virtual program that it had attempted during COVID. A few years into the strategic plan, Vecinos Unidos is on track to meet its growth goals.