Strategic Plan - The National Black Prosecutors Association

MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of the National Black Prosecutors Association (NBPA) is reflected in the organization’s commitment to the recruitment of blacks within the prosecutorial arm of the legal profession. It is to ensure not only retention of blacks in prosecution, but also to correct the dramatic inequity that exists with respect to black representation in the executive ranks of prosecutors’ offices. A further goal is to recruit, train and mentor younger aspiring lawyers for leadership roles in the years ahead.

STATEMENT ABOUT THE STRATEGIC PLAN

NBPA’s culture of inclusive strategic planning has led to decades of success. As NBPA enters this next decade, President Erika Gilliam Booker and the Organizational Leadership & Development committee have begun the process of creating the organization’s next strategic plan and appointing a Steering Committee to provide insight and wisdom towards the development of a plan that will guide NBPA’s planning for the next five years.

An essential feature of successful strategic planning is to create opportunities for many voices to contribute their own vision for the future of NBPA. Please get involved and help create our community’s shared vision for NBPA’s next five years and beyond.

STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS

In January 2021, President Gilliam Booker launched the strategic planning process for the National Black Prosecutors Association. Guided by our vision, mission and core values, the process will:

Solicit feedback from members and leadership regarding the content of the NBPA’s new strategic plan. Mandatory consultations will include, for example, engaging with members, chapter presidents, regional directors, the Executive Committee and leadership from external organizations.
Develop formal vision and strategy statements, ensuring that NBPA maintains a flexible and agile posture.
Articulate a list of NBPA’s core commitments and/or values.
Assess NBPA’s existing strengths and current gaps relative to our aspirations.
Describe NBPA’s opportunities, sources of differentiation and sustainable advantage, and contemporary societal dynamics that might shape NBPA’s success in the context of the competitive landscape of the legal profession.
Articulate optimal strategies for the organization to enhance the role of Black Prosecutors in the legal profession as well as transform the criminal justice system.

President’s Letter Strategic Planning Survey FAQ Timeline & Progress NBPA’s Steering Committee Resources

President’s Letter

Strategic Planning Survey

The Organizational Leadership & Development Committee needs your input to envision the future of NBPA and craft the organization’s next strategic plan. Please take five (5) minutes to share your thoughts, help us to better understand NBPA today, and imagine NBPA in 2026 and beyond. We want to hear the ideas of all members of the NBPA family as we begin developing priorities and themes for the next strategic plan.

At the end of the survey, you have the option of offering additional critical questions and specific ideas for what the steering committee should consider as part of the next strategic plan.

The survey is confidential, voluntary and does not collect identifiable information. However, text comments will be shared verbatim with members of the Steering Committee. The link sent by email is not connected to survey answers. Those with questions about survey privacy can contact oldblackprosecutorsorg@gmail.com.

If you are a member, you should receive a direct email with a link to take the survey. For data quality assurance, please use the link in your email.

THE SURVEY IS LIVE: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/K59V2XP

FAQ Section

THE WHAT AND WHY

What is strategic planning?

Strategic planning is the process that will assist NBPA in defining why we exist (our purpose), what we aspire to be (our vision), how we conduct business (our values), what we do (our mission), and ultimately how we might achieve desired results at NBPA. We will seek common ground to develop a strategic plan that is evidence-based, targeted, specific, concise, and considers the context and constraints within which we operate. We will ensure that the resulting plan is measurable and as such, effectively implemented, monitored, and reviewed so that we are able to determine if we have been successful and identify where changes or updates need to be made.

Practical components of strategic planning include a disciplined process with the following steps:

Asking a series of questions tailored to stimulate generative thinking
Testing assumptions
Gathering current data via surveys and in-person interviews
Anticipating and analyzing current trends in the criminal justice system in comparison to NBPA’s goals
Making decisions regarding strategic initiatives and prioritization of those initiatives

Reaching strategic goals requires:

Vision for the future
Strategy to get there
Organizational capacity to implement

What’s the difference between strategic planning and long-range planning?

The major difference between strategic planning and long-range planning is emphasis. Long-range planning generally means the development of a plan of action to accomplish a goal or set of goals over a period of several years. The major assumption in long-range planning is that current knowledge about future conditions is sufficiently reliable to enable the development of these plans. Because people assume the environment is predictable, the emphasis is on the articulation of internally focused plans to accomplish agreed-on goals.

The major assumption in strategic planning, however, is that an organization must be responsive to a dynamic, changing environment. Therefore, the emphasis in strategic planning is on understanding how the environment is changing — and will change — and on developing organizational decisions that are responsive to these changes.

What is strategic thinking?

Strategic thinking means asking yourself, “Are we doing the right thing?” It requires three major components:

Purpose or end vision
Understanding the legal profession and climate, particularly of the barriers that may affect and/or stifle achievement of these ends
Creativity in developing effective responses to the current trends in the legal profession

Why is strategic planning important?

Strategic planning provides the organization with an opportunity to:

Reconnect with vision and mission of the organization
Increase ownership of organization
Meet changing needs
Define success together
Ensure that you are all going in the same direction

What are the important components of a strategic plan?

Mission
Vision
Strategic Priorities
Objectives in support of each Strategic Priority

THE PROCESS

What are some of the action steps in a typical planning process?

Review and/or update mission and vision
Gather relevant information: Data gathering/community input
Determine best strategies to reach your mission (strategic priorities, objectives)
Develop budget/resource plan & evaluation measures
Implement the plan
Evaluate your work and incorporate what you learned into the next plan

How does planning usually take place?

Board committee formed to steer process
Consultant can help facilitate
The process will be completed over a span of eight months
Includes a Board retreat to make key decisions
Annual cycle of planning, budgeting, implementing, evaluating

What is the best time horizon for planning?

These days, organizations have the flexibility to create a three-year, five-year or ten-year strategic plan, or a respective framework (high level plan) with a companion implementation plan that is updated annually. NBPA has chosen to create a five-year strategic plan with a companion implementation plan that is updated annually.

EVALUATION

Why is evaluation of the organization important? Evaluation helps you:

Know if you are effective
Make improvements to your programs
Make good decisions about allocating resources
Hold each other accountable
Market your programs
Attract philanthropists who want to invest in proven strategies
Take risks

What kinds of evaluation questions should we be asking ourselves?

What’s working?
What’s not working?
What did we learn?
What changed as a result of our efforts?
What different approaches should we consider?

NEXT STEPS

What will the end result of the strategic planning process be?

At the end of the strategic planning process, the Steering Committee will assemble a high-level briefing document that will be presented to the President and Vice President for Strategic Planning. The document will identify goals and directions that NBPA should pursue as it charts its course for the next five years.

How will the final document be used by NBPA leadership?

President Erika Gilliam Booker has stated her intention is to use the results of this planning process as a framework to guide priority setting and decision making in the near term. It will also inform other NBPA planning efforts that are under way or soon to be undertaken.

What happens after the strategic plan is formalized? How will NBPA make our plan a living document?

Identify a steward or steward committee for the plan
Develop benchmarks or milestones to track your progress
Monitor your goals regularly
Organize board committees around strategic goals
Organize your meetings around strategic goals
Tie President expectations to strategic plan
Revisit the plan annually

QUESTIONS?

Who can I connect with if I have further comments or questions?

For further information regarding NBPA’s strategic planning process, please contact the Chair of the Organizational & Leadership Development committee, Kyontha D. Nelson, at oldblackprosecutorsorg@gmail.com.

2021 Timeline and Important Dates

Phase I: Review NBPA’s vision, mission, and core values

Phase II: Measurement, Evaluation and Assessment

Phase III: Strategy Development and Drafting of Plan

January 26th: Launch of the Strategic Plan
January 28th: Release of the Strategic Plan Survey
March 1st – April 2nd: Conduct Qualitative Interviews
April 2nd – May 7th: Data Analysis
May 7th – Mid-July: Steering Committee Meetings
July 9th – August 15th: Drafting of the Strategic Plan
August 21st: Presentation of the Strategic Plan at the National Conference

The Steering Committee

Erika Gilliam Booker, NBPA President

Kyontha D. Nelson, Organizational Development & Leadership Committee, Chair

Dionne Jones, Leadership Expert and O.L.D. Committee Member

Janene Carter, O.L.D. Committee Member

NaSheena Porter, O.L.D. Committee Member

Monique Washington, O.L.D. Committee Member

Charge to the Steering Committee

The steering committee is charged with developing the vision, direction and a draft of NBPA’s next strategic plan, following a process that is inclusive, thorough and comprehensive.
The plan should anticipate the overall strategic direction of NBPA for the next five years. A draft of the plan should be completed by fall 2021 to be shared with members at the National Black Prosecutors Association’s annual conference.
The strategic plan should consider and address the challenges and opportunities facing NBPA and the criminal justice system generally.