Strategic Visioning Session

[Michael Machell]

Dear colleagues,

At the Board meeting, I mentioned the Strategic Visioning Session I'll be facilitating on February 21 and 22 at the Lawrence Public Library in Lawrence, Kansas.  We're in Meeting Room B, which is downstairs.

We’ll meet from 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 21 and continue the next morning, Sunday, February 22 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. We are also planning a group dinner on the evening of February 21 . We’ll provide more information regarding the dinner at the session.

Strategic Visioning is a planning process that uses poster-sized graphics to focus interactive discussion on an organization’s environment, current situation, vision of a desired future state, and the action plans needed to implement that vision. The process is designed to engage stakeholders in a productive process and discussion of the organization’s direction while reaching alignment on critical priorities. We are inviting any Board members who wish to attend all or part of the session.  We will also be working with the full AOK staff on this exercise.

This is an optimal time to hold this session. We’ve added new staff members this past year at the same time as the wider environment is providing further challenges to AOK’s ongoing operations and priorities. The session will position us to think more strategically about what we want to accomplish in 2026 as a first step toward longer-term objectives. 

For everyone attending the session, please complete the pre-work below and send responses to me no later than 6 p.m., February 19. This deadline will give me time to organize and aggregate the responses into themes prior to the session.  I will not be sharing individual responses, so feel free to say what you think.

However, to include as broad a perspective as possible, if you cannot attend the session, but wish to have your views included, please answer the questions below and send them to me at madma...@gmail.com by the deadline above. The amount of time you give to this exercise is up to you, but any insight you can provide will be beneficial to our discussions.

Pre Work:

The mission of Audubon of Kansas, Inc. is to promote the enjoyment, understanding,

protection, and restoration of the state’s natural ecosystems with a focus on birds, other

wildlife, and their habitat for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity.

We seek to establish a culture of conservation and an environmental ethic in the

central Great Plains.

What does a “culture of conservation” mean to you?

What does an “environmental ethic” mean to you?

How do these concepts drive our mission and influence how you think about your

job/board responsibilities?

I'm looking forward to your responses and a great session next week.

Michael Machell