Educational Video Center

Strategic Planning for Growth and Resilience

The Educational Video Center (EVC), a nonprofit that empowers youth through documentary filmmaking and civic engagement, sought a comprehensive and inclusive strategic plan to guide its next phase of growth. The organization needed a planning process that reflected its core values - particularly youth voice and equity - and that built internal capacity for strategic thinking among staff, board members, and young people alike.

Challenge

Cora Group facilitated a collaborative, stakeholder-driven strategic planning process designed to reflect the diverse voices within EVC and its extended community. The approach emphasized equity, learning, and shared ownership at every step.

Key components included:

  • Participatory engagement with staff, Board, youth participants, partners, and funders to surface insights, priorities, and possibilities

  • Capacity-building for youth and staff, with tools and training in strategic thinking and organizational planning

  • Technical support and advisement to a representative working group tasked with synthesizing input and documenting the strategic plan for implementation

Through a series of discovery sessions, visioning workshops, and action-oriented planning meetings, Cora Group guided stakeholders to align around a shared direction for the organization.

Solution

The process resulted in a robust three-year strategic plan (2022–2025) that includes:

  • Clear organizational goals and aligned objectives

  • Action strategies tied to each goal

  • Defined progress indicators and a timeline of expected milestones

Beyond the deliverable itself, the planning process strengthened EVC’s internal leadership, deepened youth engagement in decision-making, and positioned the organization to pursue its mission with renewed clarity, alignment, and momentum.

Outcome