Ideas to Action

Smiling woman looking at person to her right.

Every Project is different.

Building on experience, we will help you refine your vision, understand the trends and data that define your environment, facilitate collaboration, and design programs, projects and policies that achieve results.

Vision & Strategy

Strategic Plans

We facilitate a process that will help you move from a big picture vision and guiding principles to implementation and long-term growth by engaging your leadership to identify

  • Vision, Mission and Guiding Principles

  • Goals and objectives

  • Tactics

  • Measures of success

  • Timelines

Three column chart titled “Timeline of Transformation”. Columns for now, in 15 years and in 25 years.

Competitive & Internal Analysis

Data analysis and qualitative research is key to effective planning and successful implementation. To position your plan or project for results, we design a process to help you understand:

  •  What is the external context for your idea?

  • Are there models and best practices to learn from locally, nationally or internationally?

  • What data is available to deepen our understanding of the issues?

  • Who are the most important stakeholders?

  • Who are your most likely partners?

Program Design & Pilots

What does it mean to implement a big idea? The best learning often comes from trying.

We can help you design pilot projects or prototypes that engage your primary audiences and learn from your successes and failures. With more than 30 years of non-profit programming experience, Harris Strategies designs for results.

Community Engagement

Expert Facilitation

From small meetings to massive civic initiatives and leadership development programs, we facilitate effective gatherings and activities to ensure engagement, lead to action and generate results. To plan each program or event, we work with you to identify:

Standing woman with left arm raised and holding microphone in other hand, speaking to two seated people facing her and person seated next to her has a laptop computer and flip chart on stand behind him.

  • What are the primary outcomes you seek from this meeting?

  • Who should attend and what roles will they play?

  • What materials or information do they need in advance?

  • What agenda and format will maximize participation and generate results?

  • How will you remove barriers to participation and ensure accessibility?

  • How will you follow up?

Building Engagement Platforms

Facilitation is not just for meetings.

Successful community and stakeholder engagement rests on structures that make participation easy.

ADA 25 Chicago and the Burnham Plan Centennial engaged hundreds of organizational partners, and Harris Strategies can take the lessons learned to help you meaningfully involve civic leaders and community members.

Disability Inclusion

One in four Americans live with a disability, and disability intersects with the most pressing issues of our time. Emily Harris has worked with philanthropy, non-profit organizations, and public agencies to engage people with disabilities in leadership roles, and to encourage a disability lens in all programs and operations.

Report cover titled ADA25 Creating a More Inclusive Chicago Today and Everyday, title is displayed on downtown Chicago image showing the lake and tall buildings lit up at night.

Building on these innovative programs, we will help you assess:

  • How does disability intersect with the issues most important to you?

  • How can a disability lens expand your success?

  • What accommodations can be made to break down barriers to full participation by all community members?

  • What policies and practices should be in place to support inclusion?

Harris Strategies can help your organization design operations, policies, programs, meetings and events that are welcoming and accessible to all.