By Jenny Cordle.
African Sky has announced a new strategic plan to guide the organization in its planning, activities, and initiatives. The strategic plan includes the organization’s mission, vision, strategic priorities, goals, and key objectives.
African Sky is a nonprofit organization comprised of volunteers, most of whom served as United States Peace Corps volunteers in Mali. In the summer of 2014, African Sky expanded its all-volunteer base by inviting new board members and program managers. In response to this increased capacity, African Sky decided to create a comprehensive, organizational strategic plan. A task force convened in the fall of 2014 and began the process of collecting data and input from the African Sky community, both in the United States and Mali.
“Our most exciting accomplishment [in 2015] was the collaborative process that produced our new strategic plan,” said founder and director Dr. Scott Lacy. “After months of research, discussion, and writing, we created a vision that will guide African Sky through the next five years.”
The strategic plan emphasizes the organization’s mission:
Together with our friends and colleagues in Mali, African Sky promotes capacity-building, empowers individuals through education, and develops innovative leaders for social change. Our philosophy of community development is based on the belief that humanity’s physical, ecological, and spiritual well-being is rooted in universal compassion and sustainable living.
African Sky’s core values include:
- Partnership
- Sustainability
- Friendship
The plan includes refined goals:
- Address community-identified priorities by connecting Mali and US communities
- Empower individuals and communities through education and knowledge sharing
- Develop strong leaders for social change
- African Sky’s organizational integrity and operational sustainability
The full strategic plan can be viewed at www.africansky.org/theplan
About African Sky
African Sky was incorporated by Dr. Scott M. Lacy in August 2004. Dr. Lacy created African Sky in response to a growing number of family and friends who were partnering with him to organize and launch small projects in southern Mali. African Sky initially focused on building small schools with Malian host communities, but since the beginning our project portfolio has also included initiatives focused on community health, food security, and community arts.