When Strategy Needs To Focus
Sarah Archer (B&A), Julie Price (Community Child Care) & Cath Newell (B&A Editor)
Over the past twenty years, Sarah has led some of Bow and Arrow’s most successful client transformations across a range of community organisations and not-for-profits. Some engage her for whole-of-business advice, others for support with discrete functions that are under-performing or need special attention, while some take her counsel for one-off projects.
When Sarah started working with Community Child Care Association (CCC) six years ago, the peak body required a major strategic overhaul for the whole organisation, but one operational area required targeted strategy concentration – advocacy.
“We knew that our broader strategic emphasis going forward was going to be external-facing, so identified early on that advocacy needed really dedicated support to expand the way we wanted,” CCC Executive Director, Julie Price, explains.
This ‘future’ in mind, Sarah started by analysing staff strengths and their knowledge, CCC’s existing systems, its membership offering, their processes for developing and marketing new services, and key relationships.
“To start, we had to be crystal clear what it was we were offering to the market and what we represented in a noisy sector,” says Sarah.
CCC’s concentrated advocacy strategy meant stepping up – setting clear and realistic goals, analysing stakeholder needs, crafting compelling messages and forming strategic alliances.
Sarah’s work with the team to firm up the service offerings culminated in the development of an advocacy roadmap by Julie and her team; and profile with the ACCC Childcare Inquiry, the Fair Work Commission and the Productivity Commission. CCC is now helping to create a sector that is future fit, has universal access, and professional wages via fair pay and conditions for early educators.
“In this highly specialised work, Sarah’s advice and support has been outstanding,” says Julie. “She has helped prepare us for the big stage, and introduced us to lobbyist Louise Yabsley from Watt Advocacy who is now a very trusted advisor to us as well.”
CCC is now starting to see the benefits of their intensive advocacy strategy.
Julie says that her conversations with Ministers, MPs and Senators have given her confidence that CCC is on the cusp of unlocking the full potential of the early childhood education and care sector for children, families and communities that CCC serves.
For more information, contact sarah@bowandarrow.au