El Centrito Family Learning Centers

This report summarizes the results of El Centrito Family Learning Centers' (El Centrito’s) strategic planning process. The Strategic Plan’s purpose is to establish goals, measures of success, and strategies that will guide the efforts of Board and staff from July 2005-June 2010. The Plan also places goals, measures, and strategies in the context of the organization’s mission, vision, and values, and the internal and external environment in which it operates.

This planning process comes at a key time for El Centrito as it works to become a sustainable organization by:

• Building on the quality of its core programs,
• Expanding geographically from Oxnard into greater Ventura County,
• Strengthening its infrastructure, and
• Diversifying its revenue base.

The Plan was developed over January-August 2005 through a participatory approach involving El Centrito’s Board, staff, participants, and outside stakeholders. A Futures Committee comprised of representatives from these four groups guided the process. Consultant Mark Levine assisted the Futures Committee and senior management.

The core of El Centrito’s Strategic Plan is the below directional statement, which outlines where the organization will go over the coming five years as a result of implementing its strategic goals:

El Centrito educates and contributes to the development of successful youth and families in VenturaCounty in partnership with the Latino community. In the next five years, El Centrito plans to go from “good to great” and achieve excellence by:

• Strengthening and expanding programs
• Increasing Board capacity and engagement
• Increasing staff capacity
• Diversifying revenue sources
• Increasing visibility
• Improving facilities

Specific goals, measures, and strategies are listed across five goal areas (enhancing and expanding programs, strengthening infrastructure, diversifying resources, increasing visibility, and improving facilities). To lay a strong foundation for meeting its goals, El Centrito will first prioritize investing in Board development, hiring a Fund Development consultant, hiring an Assistant Executive Director, making short-term improvements to the current central facility, and establishing a plan for securing a long-term facility.

Finally, an Implementation Guide was created to help the Board and senior management monitor the many simultaneous strategies detailed in this document.

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