Overview
The Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations (MACDC) began 2003 with the excitement of having set ambitious goals for ourselves, through the GOALs Campaign - Growing Opportunities, Assets & Leaders. The campaign was publicly endorsed by 600 community development activists at the November 2002 statewide convention. At the heart of the GOALs campaign is the view that, by acting together, individual CDCs are more powerful and achieve a higher community impact. The campaign unites our 68 member CDCs across the state in a joint effort to actively engage 2,000 community leaders in sharing a vision; to create 3,000 affordable homes and support 18,000 low and moderate income families in stabilizing their lives; to preserve and develop 5,000 jobs and grow 1,500 locally owned small businesses. Accomplishing GOALs means directing $400 million in investments to revitalize communities in economic distress. All to be done by the end of 2004.
Within the first six months of the GOALs Campaign, we felt the shock of a worsening state economy, a stingy political climate and the elimination of the only dedicated source of state funding, CEED, that provided flexible core support for CDCs. To members, the elimination of CEED by the state government meant more than simply a loss of money - it raised the worry that after more than 25 years of explicit state support for the community development field, MACDC and the CDC movement might now be facing even greater battles in the future.
The promise of the GOALs Campaign as well as the threat of declining resources gave context to our strategic planning discussions. The planning process was launched on June 10, 2003 at a membership meeting involving more than 70 member representatives and MACDC staff. We spent the time reflecting on the strengths and weakness of the association, sharing new visions for the work ahead. We grappled with the desire to articulate values to guide and unite an emerging community development movement, and the unique role or mission for MACDC to adopt within that larger movement. From June through December, MACDC's Board of Directors and Staff continued the strategic planning process by refining the mission, vision and value; debating priorities and working towards agreement on the details of a five year plan.
This strategic plan seeks to build on MACDC's long standing strengths, solidify our recent growth and changes, and lay the groundwork for adapting to the new economic and political realities that confront us. To read the enitre strategic plan, please select the link below.
MACDC_strategic_plan.pdf