The Children’s Trust of Alachua County (CTAC) Board of Directors held a workshop on Monday, where they discussed the latest update on the trust’s 2023-26 strategic plan. 

The CTAC approved its strategic plan in June 2023 following the completion of a listening project that began in 2022.  

While it was approved, the board continues to review the strategic plan and can still revise it if needed.  

At its June 9 meeting, the board unanimously approved the professional services of C Robinson Associates Inc. for its facilitation of the CTAC board retreat on July 17 in the amount of $15,000. 

During Monday’s nearly three-hour workshop, board members were given a refresher on what was discussed at that retreat regarding the strategic plan and the takeaways. They were also presented with updates staff made using their feedback from the retreat.  

There was also time at the end of the workshop for board members to discuss funding as it relates to the strategic plan. 

During the July 17 retreat, facilitators from the C Robinson Associates team, including Conchita Robinson, Regine Denis and Jacquie Gibbs, discussed and reviewed several items with board members regarding the strategic plan. This included the CTAC’s mission statement, guiding principles and core values. 

From that retreat, board members were able to create an additional fourth goal for the strategic plan, which is “support the success of our provider community.” They also asked for an increase in focus on program indicators and related performance/impact measurements, among other actions. 

“There was a lot of discussion around impact measurements [at the retreat],” Gibbs said while addressing board members at the workshop. “And you told us that we really needed to have measurements that showed an impact so that whenever you come up for…reaffirmation…we could show the difference that the CTAC was making.” 

Over the course of the last several months, Gibbs explained that the facilitators held two in-person work sessions with CTAC staff. 

According to her presentation, the first work session focused on goals one through three, including editing focus areas, updating indicators and establishing impact measurements. 

The second session focused specifically on goal four and involved establishing a focus area, creating indicators and forming impact measurements, according to the presentation.  

Gibbs reviewed each goal with board members and the focus areas, indicators and impact measurements associated with each one, as recommended by staff. 

After going through the goals and taking comments from board members, Gibbs then shifted the discussion to the funding side of the strategic plan. 

The updated version of the plan presented to the board at its July 17 retreat had the funding broken down as 50% for health, 35% for education (thrive), 10% for safety and 5% for community capacity building. 

During the retreat, CTAC Chair Ken Cornell suggested that for the new version of the plan, 35% of the CTAC’s budget be allocated for health, 40% for education, 20% for safety and 5% for capacity building. 

CTAC Executive Director Marsha Kiner said at the workshop that “percentages are very difficult.” 

“It’s difficult to get to percentages when you already have contracts out,” she said. “And those are multiple-year contracts, right? So, it feels like you’re chasing yourself to get to those percentages.” 

Board Member Lee Pinkoson said it’s “imperative” that the CTAC “prioritize on long-term results.” 

“I know that in the past, I said that there are certain programs, like the after-school programs [and] the summer programs are, for lack of a word, maintenance,” he said. “They help and they’re imperative, but there are other ones that will be transformational…And as a board, I think collectively…we want to provide dollars for maintenance, and we want to provide money for long-term, transformational programs. And if there is a percentage, perhaps that’s where it should be.” 

Pinkoson later suggested an exercise to evaluate which programs are transformational. 

After some more discussion and a short recess, board members ended up using post-it notes to identify which focus areas associated with the four goals they believe are transformational. 

The exercise was to help staff know where to put their emphasis when they go to do their funding work.  

Below are the focus areas board members felt were transformational. 

• Goal 1: Maternal child health programs 

• Goal 2: Reading and academic performance; quality early care and education, including VPK outreach and messaging  

• Goal 3: Violence prevention 

• Goal 4: Capacity building; training and delivery meta  

Staff will refine the strategic plan and bring it back to the board for approval at its next workshop on Jan. 26, 2026.  

Nick Anschultz is a Report for America corps member and writes about education for Mainstreet Daily News. This position is supported by local donations through the Community Catalyst for Local Journalism Fund at the Community Foundation of North Central Florida.