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SisterSong
SisterSong
has been fighting for reproductive justice
since 1997 as a volunteer run collective of
anchor organizations representing different
ethnic groups. As it became increasingly
successful, the collective found their success
overwhelming their capacity. To create
greater structure, Loretta Ross became the
National Coordinator in 2005. Feeling the
responsibility of being the largest and longest
group of color working on reproductive justice,
Loretta knew that fact-based scientific
strategic planning was crucial to telling them
what the next steps should be to guide the
field in the right direction.
SisterSong hired MAG to oversee their strategic planning, not only because the Ford Foundation recommended them, but also because of the solid reputation and common social justice vision. As Loretta says, "It's not too hard to hire an organizational development consultant, but it's much more difficult to find one who shares your world view and politics."
MAG facilitated the delicate process to develop a shared vision as a collective of many member organizations. At one point, sensing that there was an issue that needed to be addressed before the strategic planning could continue, the MAG consultant brought it to the members' attention in order to look at it head on and make a decision about how to proceed. Loretta recalls, "Without MAG, we wouldn’t have had the backbone to have that fight, and we weren't even clear about the conflict since it hadn't been openly discussed before. We had kept putting it off because we didn't want to lose that group. But MAG was right in that we needed to be united and go forward in unity." In the end, one organization left the collective, but it allowed for others representing the same community to join later on.
"While we wanted to do everything at the same time, MAG helped us drill down and really focus on what was achievable in a 3 year plan," recalls Loretta. Having established the external impact they wanted to have, MAG helped them figured out what type of infrastructure was needed to support that work. "We departed from the usual trajectory of doing a lot of programmatic and policy work to focus on building our capacity and infrastructure. I had to urge the board that we couldn't reduce infrastructure and couldn't go backwards," says Loretta. "Now we have strong people in key senior positions that would normally be burdening the Executive Director."
"We found MAG's extensive preparation, particularly the interviews with stakeholders, to be very helpful in bringing fact-based research to the table, as opposed to anecdotes and opinions," says Loretta. "It's not what you what you want to hear sometimes, but you have to hear bad news in order to move toward a healthier place."
"MAG's commitment to reproductive justice and capacity building is clear. Unlike many consultants, MAG gave us tools to do the work on our own. Most consultants want to keep you dependent on them. MAG really wants you to be independent," states Loretta. "I can do nothing but offer and recommend MAG to our base."
SisterSong hired MAG to oversee their strategic planning, not only because the Ford Foundation recommended them, but also because of the solid reputation and common social justice vision. As Loretta says, "It's not too hard to hire an organizational development consultant, but it's much more difficult to find one who shares your world view and politics."
MAG facilitated the delicate process to develop a shared vision as a collective of many member organizations. At one point, sensing that there was an issue that needed to be addressed before the strategic planning could continue, the MAG consultant brought it to the members' attention in order to look at it head on and make a decision about how to proceed. Loretta recalls, "Without MAG, we wouldn’t have had the backbone to have that fight, and we weren't even clear about the conflict since it hadn't been openly discussed before. We had kept putting it off because we didn't want to lose that group. But MAG was right in that we needed to be united and go forward in unity." In the end, one organization left the collective, but it allowed for others representing the same community to join later on.
"While we wanted to do everything at the same time, MAG helped us drill down and really focus on what was achievable in a 3 year plan," recalls Loretta. Having established the external impact they wanted to have, MAG helped them figured out what type of infrastructure was needed to support that work. "We departed from the usual trajectory of doing a lot of programmatic and policy work to focus on building our capacity and infrastructure. I had to urge the board that we couldn't reduce infrastructure and couldn't go backwards," says Loretta. "Now we have strong people in key senior positions that would normally be burdening the Executive Director."
"We found MAG's extensive preparation, particularly the interviews with stakeholders, to be very helpful in bringing fact-based research to the table, as opposed to anecdotes and opinions," says Loretta. "It's not what you what you want to hear sometimes, but you have to hear bad news in order to move toward a healthier place."
"MAG's commitment to reproductive justice and capacity building is clear. Unlike many consultants, MAG gave us tools to do the work on our own. Most consultants want to keep you dependent on them. MAG really wants you to be independent," states Loretta. "I can do nothing but offer and recommend MAG to our base."