Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) employees convened for an all-staff meeting recently to discuss strategic planning and realignment for the organization.
Aisha T. Brown, chief financial officer and chief operating officer at TMCF, led the strategic plan initiative and provided an overview of Tyton Partners’ findings and recommendations. Brown also identified pain points within the organization while identifying ways to move forward collectively over the next five years. One point identified was TMCF’s opportunity to improve translating information vertically and laterally throughout the organization. Intentional efforts to improve the process are already underway.
Dr. Harry L. Williams, president and CEO of TMCF, reviewed the mission, vision, brand and strategic goals and showed appreciation for all employees. He also spoke about the TMCF culture and achieving organization-wide goals.
“Our purpose here, today, is about transparency, collaboration and continuous performance improvement to advance our mission and meet or exceed strategic goals,” Williams said. “We must focus on the right KPIs, and the entire organization must understand our mission, strategy and see ourselves aligning with our new strategic direction.”
Team members throughout the organization were recognized and new team members were presented with a welcome gift.
“I just want to say thank you to all of you for allowing me to be the president of this great organization and to be able to live out a dream of knowing that we are doing something that is going to leave a legacy behind us,” Williams said.
Each member of the leadership team discussed key performance indicators (KPI) opportunities within their area. All organization team members had the opportunity to review and add input to other team’s KPIs. Cathy Shaw, Tyton Partners, worked to ensure all team members understood organization KPIs.
Dr. N. Joyce Payne, founder of TMCF, concluded the meeting by encouraging team members to carry forth the legacy of Justice Thurgood Marshall and continue to be a voice of change, access and opportunity for member schools and their students.
“You are so fabulous, so talented. To see the minds and the hearts and passion in this room moves me to no end,” Payne said. “We aren’t just taking education and corporate America to a higher level: we’re taking this country to a higher level. I want Fanny Lou Hamer, Medgar Evers and all those icons who lost life and limbs for freedom to know what we did to advance educational access and opportunity.”
