The Making of PolicyLab's 2023-2026 Strategic Plan

2023 marks the beginning of new three-year goals for PolicyLab, celebrated with the release of our 2023-2026 Strategic Plan.??

Over the last six months, PolicyLab underwent a centerwide strategic planning process to identify how we can best support the continued growth of our research center and make further progress towards our mission for the 2023-2026 calendar years. The plan we developed alongside our faculty and staff members outlines the center’s vision and three-year strategic priorities, which focus on conducting high-impact research, fostering a more inclusive and equitable working environment, increasing our capacity to create meaningful policy change and maintaining strong partnerships with key stakeholders.?

You can view our Strategic Plan here.??

To share more about the process for creating the plan, we asked Strategic Operations & Communications Director Lauren (Walens) Zarick to tell us more about how it all came together and how it will impact the center’s direction over the next three years.?

Q: Why is it important for a research center like PolicyLab to have a strategic plan???

A: PolicyLab is a distinct academic research center in that it brings together professionals from a variety of disciplines who are studying a wide spectrum of issues related to child, teen and family health to work towards a common mission. With this structure, a strategic plan can thread the needle through all pillars of the organization to ensure we can effectively and collectively achieve that mission. The strategic plan outlines what investments the center will make in our team members so they can continue conducting high-quality research and collaborate with one another, while guiding us on how we can support centerwide goals around stakeholder engagement, policy impact and fostering an inclusive work environment. By agreeing on a vision and goals to work towards, we are reigniting our collective purpose and refreshing our approach to our unique model.?

PolicyLab has also grown significantly over its 15-year history, so the strategic plan helps us prioritize our resources in a way that focuses on our team members’ needs and doesn’t spread us too thin!??

Q: What goes into the process of creating the plan? Who contributes to the planning process???

Believe it or not, this strategic plan took about a year to pull together! It started with drawing consensus from PolicyLab’s Leadership Team on what aspects of the center’s operations they wanted the strategic planning process to focus on. Then, I pulled together a terrific cross-sectional group of my colleagues—representing faculty members, research staff, administrative and operations professionals, and policy experts—to form a Strategic Planning Input Committee who informed each step of the strategic planning process. With guidance from the Leadership Team on the type of feedback and ideas they were seeking from team members, the Committee determined what activities would be best to collect that information and helped develop the tools we used during those activities.??

Over the course of six months, the Committee conducted a survey, held a set of focus groups, and helped organize a centerwide retreat, all of which led to the set of three-year consensus-driven goals reflected in our external-facing document. Finally, with the information gathered, the Leadership Team had what they needed to put pen to paper on specifics of the more detailed internal-facing plan, including long-term activities they will champion to work towards the strategic plan goals.?

Q: The last time the center created a strategic plan was 2019. How did the events of the last three years impact the center’s vision and the process for creating the 2023-2026 strategic plan???

A: In many ways for a PolicyLab team member, 2023 looks nothing like 2019. From a greater emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion in our operations to learning how to work in a hybrid environment, we’re finding more creative ways to connect with our colleagues and grow as professionals.??

For many of the children, teens, and families our research supports, they are still facing the same challenges to being their healthiest selves, which have only been exacerbated in the face of COVID-19 and rising inflation. Therefore, the PolicyLab Leadership Team decided the foundation of our 2019-2022 strategic plan—the strategic plan priorities—should remain the same given it was a strong roadmap for the center as we navigated the challenges of the last three years while continuing to disseminate high-impact research. What we needed to do together as a center, however, was reexamine PolicyLab’s center offerings to ensure they were meeting the needs of our team members in this new work environment. By using the strategic plan to refine and enhance the research and professional development supports the center provides our team members, the Leadership Team believes we can only enhance the center’s ability to use its high-quality research to impact programs and policies for children and make further progress on our vision.?

Q: How will this strategic plan help guide PolicyLab’s decision-making over the course of the next three years????

A: This strategic plan serves as a three-year roadmap for PolicyLab, specifically when it’s necessary for the Leadership Team to make critical decisions about resources or where to focus capacity. It is also intended to guide everyone in the center around common goals that the organization can work towards. To that end, the intent of this strategic plan is to inform and guide annual planning for all teams across the center.?

Q: How can partners engage with our strategic plan???

A: Enhancing engagement with partners and stakeholders is one of the four priority areas in the strategic plan! With this plan, we hope current and prospective partners will more clearly see opportunities for alignment through shared priorities, and the plan includes specific suggestions of how we can work together towards those priorities. After viewing our plan, if you think there is a new or different way we can partner to improve the health and well-being of children, teens, and families, please don’t hesitate to reach out to myself or another member of the PolicyLab Leadership Team!??