What is Your Moonshot?
As people around the world celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of Apollo 11, the team at Groundswell gathered to develop a strategic plan for our very own moonshot, the achievement of community power for all.
July 11-12 was the date of Groundswell’s annual strategic planning off-site, a chance for our leadership and board members to take a step back from our daily work to consider how far Groundswell has come from our founding a decade ago, reaffirm our vision and goals, and plan for the future.
Over the span of two days, the participants journeyed together in a collaborative process based on the human centered design (HCD) model. Unlike typical strategic planning exercises, typified by a numbing procession of powerpoint presentations and surface-level conversation, the team got right to the hard questions:
Where do we think should be the place of community power in the future?
What is the work that will be necessary for our society to achieve that future?
What should be the role of Groundswell in that work?
What will it take for Groundswell to fulfill that role?
Participants at the off-site brought a wide range of knowledge and expertise to the conversation. Gathered attendees ranged from founding members of the Groundswell board to three of our newest directors. Together the group represented the diversity of our stakeholder community, including experience in community organizing, clean energy finance, entrepreneurship, advocacy, and utility management.
The group rolled up their sleeves and got to work. Through a series of HCD exercises and frank conversations, the strategic planning team arrived by the end of the two days at a common consensus. The bottom line was a reaffirmed commitment to community power and our moonshot: ensuring access to clean energy for LMI households through both the demand side and the supply side, community asset ownership, and value chain inclusivity.
In the next few months, the Groundswell team will be taking the key points from the off-site to flesh out a long term strategic plan for the organization. This will include long term timelines and budgetary projections, as well as our analysis of the opportunities and risks ahead. As we proceed on this journey, we will be eager to share updates on our progress with you.