Are you frustrated by your planning efforts? Does your planning process make you excited about the future of your organization or does the work of strategic planning feel obligatory? Does your plan ever see the light of day throughout the years it is meant to be in operation? Do you feel your organization could achieve a bigger impact if you just had a better roadmap on how to do that? Unleash your inner-strategist and join this workshop for a participatory conversation as we debunk the myths of strategic planning and get to the heart of what constitutes effective strategy making. We will explore the arc of designing strategy—from taking stock of your organization’s current position, to asking powerful questions, to sharpening the focus on what matters most, to balancing that vision with capacity. Your organization’s strategy matters: everything else depends upon its careful construction and deployment. Let’s get serious about setting strategy that helps your organization to thrive.
Elizabeth A. Murphy
Elizabeth A. Murphy is the founder of RATHÚ Consulting. She is an organizational strategist, coach, and facilitator with 30 years of experience working in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector. Elizabeth has worked for many high-performing organizations with wide-ranging missions including philanthropy, community building, the arts, disaster response, sustainability, healthcare, and education. Her coaching and consulting practice, named RATHÚ—an Irish word for thrive, is dedicated to creating an environment where people, organizations, and communities can, in fact, thrive. Elizabeth believes in the value of listening hard; asking tough questions; engaging diverse voices in important conversations; and bold incrementalism. Elizabeth is committed to creating highly-customized work, and balancing visionary goals with realistic capacity. She is the founding director of Creative New Jersey, a statewide community engagement initiative launched by the GR Dodge Foundation. She previously served as executive director for the American Liver Foundation Mid-Atlantic Chapter, and as creative producer for four professional theatre companies. An active nonprofit board member, she recently served on the NYC Regional Planning Authority’s Tri-State Committee on the Fourth Regional Plan. She has been an adjunct professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University, University of Nevada/Las Vegas, and Hofstra University. Born and raised in Queens, NYC, Elizabeth holds dual citizenship – Irish and American, and from 2008 to 2012 she lived and worked in Ireland. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Mary’s College /University of Notre Dame, and successfully completed two executive education certificate programs: Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business—Executive Education Program for Nonprofit Leaders (focus on strategy and leadership), and Rutgers University’s Leadership Coaching for Organizational Performance.
Her website is at www.RathuConsulting.com.