Looking Forward to Serving You: NHMA’s 2024 – 2027 Strategic Plan

As we wrote in the last issue of Town & City, one of NHMA’s major initiatives this year is establishing a strategic plan to guide the organization’s direction over the next several years.

On May 17, the NHMA Board of Directors, NHMA staff, and the local officials serving on the Strategic Planning Work Group (SPWG) convened at Primex to review the draft strategic plan, which consists of five strategic priorities and the goals needed to achieve them. Through a “World Cafe Format,” participants “visited” each strategic priority station to learn the background of each proposed priority and to provide feedback to assist in finalizing the plan. The session was fun, interactive, and full of excellent perspective and content that will help us get over the finish line. Here are some emerging themes, based on what you, our staff, and our partners have told us:

• Training and education that meets your needs. Sitting in a classroom is no longer the only way to learn, and local officials and employees have an incredible amount of responsibility in the communities that they serve. Add on top of that ever-changing laws, rules, and best practices, and there is no question that training and education must be ongoing and dynamic. Whether you prefer “traditional” in person events, recordings you can watch on your own timeline, or short FAQs on timely topics, how can NHMA provide the information you need in a manner that works best for you?
• Communication that reaches you where you’re at, and when you need it. How can we reach you better with the information you need—when you need it? “Local officials” range from elected officials to full time
  employees and volunteers serving on a variety of capacities that keep cities and towns running. When we report on changes in the law, legislation of municipal impact, trainings and other resources, they can only help our members if we are getting the message into the hands of the right people at the right time.
• Raise the profile of local government. From promoting careers in local government to supporting regional gatherings for networking and peer learning, what can NHMA do amplify and support the important work of local government?

On June 21, the NHMA Board of Directors voted to approve the proposed strategic plan subject to member comments and and questions. The plan will go into effect on October 18, 2024. You can review the proposed plan here, and send comments or questions to info@nhmunicipal.org.