A message from Park Pride’s Executive Director, Michael Halicki
Early this year, we announced that Park Pride was embarking on a new strategic plan to guide the organization over the next three to five years. Since that time, we secured a Toolbox Grant from the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, hired a seasoned consultant to facilitate the process, and set up a survey.
Over the summer, Park Pride staff and board also conducted more than 170 stakeholder interviews. This level of outreach is more extensive than any I’ve witnessed in my career. These interviews sparked great conversations, deepened relationships, and provided valuable input. The respondents’ perception of the organization was summarized as such:
Over the past 25 years, Park Pride has developed a strong, positive reputation as a convener of, a service provider to, a re-granter to and an advocate for people working to create more parks, better parks, and active parks in Atlanta and DeKalb.
Our board and staff met in July for a strategic planning work session. We discussed the collected data and scheduled a series of meetings to tackle issues related to geography, scope of services, thought leadership, branding/marketing/visibility, funding, and partnerships. We are on track to present a completed strategic plan to Park Pride’s board for adoption in January 2016.
Each step in the process has made it clear that Park Pride is poised, like never before, to build upon its past accomplishments. The passionate commitment of our staff and board along with the interest and support of our stakeholders has inspired me and affirmed my decision to join the organization two years ago as Park Pride’s Executive Director.
I hope that you, like me, are excited about Park Pride’s future and the promise it holds for more parks, better parks, and active parks that reflect the unique character of communities throughout Atlanta and DeKalb.