Strategy, Organizational Development
Situation:
Granted $1.5m in seed funding from a foundation, the leadership of the sustainability center needed to start delivering results while also creating a long-term strategy and vision for their organization.
Our Role:
We assessed the center’s strengths and mapped them against the current landscape of sustainability centers to identify the optimal role for the Center. In a nimble and interactive process, we helped the center to identify its vision, mission and strategy and to create a strategic plan for its first 3 years. Beyond advising the center on its strategy, Blu Skye also helped implement the strategic plan over the course of our one-year engagement with the center; we supported the center in developing and testing an innovation methodology, partnered with the center in designing and facilitating a food industry innovation summit, and helped steer the center’s fundraising program for a food industry life cycle analysis and innovation project.
Results:
- The center is successfully launched and has become recognized as one of the top university-based sustainability centers in the country.
- Launched major food/agriculture LCA project that will help meet the anticipated demand for measuring the food industry’s environmental impact; the Center is on path to obtain full funding and finalize a board of advisors.
- In partnership with another university, the center co-directs an industry consortium, a group representing government, NGO, academic and business interests that is developing the standards to be used to rate the sustainable attributes of products.