Strategic Plan Development Services

Work must begin no later than January 1st, 2027.

Work must conclude no later than December 31st, 2027.

The vendor will provide strategic plan development services, beginning with discovery, assessment, and landscape analysis. This work will include reviewing organizational materials such as strategic plans, work plans, program evaluations, research, communications, fundraising materials, and other internal documents from national and state offices. The vendor will also assess philanthropic trends, emerging funding opportunities, and alignment between strategic priorities and current and prospective funders.

The engagement will integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion and a racial equity lens. The vendor will evaluate how national and state strategies advance educational justice for students of color and students from low-income backgrounds, ensure representation of communities most affected by educational inequity across multiple states, and assess capacity, organizational structure, decision-making, and resource allocation across national and state offices.

The vendor will design and implement an inclusive stakeholder engagement strategy involving staff from national and state offices throughout the planning process. Responsibilities will include facilitating planning sessions with national leadership and each state office while accounting for local policy, political, and community contexts. The vendor will develop strategic pillars that reflect a unified national strategy and clearly define state-level contributions.

The engagement will also include developing external messaging, particularly for funders, to communicate the national direction and role of each state office. The vendor will produce a visually compelling external communications plan aligned with established brand guidelines.