Hello Friends,

For those of you I haven’t met, I have the honor of serving as the New Horizons Senior VP of Strategic Growth. I’ve been here at New Horizons for a little over a year and a half. Part of my job is to work with our Board, the Senior Leadership Team, and various stakeholders to put together the Strategic Operating Plan for New Horizons each year. This year, New Horizons is celebrating its 70^th Anniversary as an organization, and though I was not here for much of the previous 70 years, I can tell you that there is no place I’d rather be, because there are a lot of exciting and impactful things going on at New Horizons, and the next 70 years are going to be something to behold.

Prior to coming to New Horizons I worked as a history and language arts teacher, and was an executive at a history museum. For more than two decades I have worked in the education and nonprofit world, and I am excited for all that we are working on here at New Horizons. In the spirit of a former history teacher, I hope you don’t mind if I quote former president, Teddy Roosevelt, who suggested that what makes a life worthwhile is the ability to, “Work hard at work worth doing.” This is precisely what is happening here on a daily basis. In the spirit of transparency with our stakeholders, I want to share with you what this looks like through the lens of our Strategic Plan.

Our Strategic Plan is built around four key pillars. These are listed in order of importance.

• Empowering People. Our mission is to “deliver high-quality, innovative, personalized services to our Members and their families.” We also aim to be the agency of choice to our employees. New Horizons is historically rooted in the concept of families wanting to ensure the best possible service for their loved ones, and New Horizons embraces this philosophy today. We aspire to empower our staff through training, support, and a positive workspace, so that they can in turn empower our Members. How do we measure this?
  1. Member Satisfaction. More than 95% of our Members report that they are satisfied with their services across our various programs. With a robust slate of Member events, activities, Art programs, community integration, and more than 150 employer partners, there are endless opportunities for our Members to live their best lives.
  2. Stakeholder Satisfaction. More than 93% of our stakeholders report that they are satisfied with New Horizons services. With exciting events like our annual Gala (get your tickets here!), Golf Tournament, Power of the Purse, and the annual walk, there are lots of ways to get involved at New Horizons.
  3. Staff Satisfaction: 97% of our staff report that they give their best effort to our Members, and feel they make a positive contribution each and every day. With staff recognition such as the Above and Beyond Awards, Direct Support Professionals Week, the Service Recognition Luncheon, Staff Appreciation Breakfast, and “Java with John,” the staff is celebrated and empowered.
• Leverage the Narrative. Key to our mission is to “advance the rights and life choices of individuals within the neurodiverse community and their families…” Thus, it is essential to be effective and impactful story tellers so that we can effectively communicate the importance and impact of our work with: internal and external stakeholders, with local, state, and national officials in our role as advocates, and with existing and potential supporters as we seek investment in our Members and our work. How do we measure this?
  1. Effective Communication: More than 95% of employees either strongly agree, agree, or feel neutral that New Horizons effectively communicates its mission, vision, and purpose.
  2. Share our Story to inspire Funders: New Horizons has raised more than $1 million dollars this year to support new vehicles, Art programs, updated technology, safety, new programs and more.
  3. Advocacy: Through local, statewide, and national advocacy efforts, New Horizons has met with more than a dozen elected officials and their offices to advocate for better support and funding for the critical services we provide.
  4. Community Engagement: New Horizons staff is very engaged with the community, having attended, presented at, and exhibited at more than 50 local civic and community events so far this year.
• Great Infrastructure. In order to offer exceptional service, and hire, retain, and grow exceptional staff, we must have effective systems of operations and strong financial results. Effective systems of operation allow us to operate efficiently, track and measure results to help grow impact, and increase the ROI on infrastructure and training. Strong financial results give us the opportunity to invest in staff, technology, training, and the future in such a way that allows us to deliver exceptional service now and into the future. How do we measure this?
  1. Financial Results: We want to be sure that we are using the funds we receive from our funding partners in a way that 1) Delivers positive outcomes for our Members, 2) Is an efficient use of funding, 3) Offers competitive pay and retirement options for staff, and 4) Allows us to invest in the future of New Horizons.
  2. Data Driven: New Horizons uses a variety of data points to help analyze the impact and effectiveness of our services. These include stakeholder surveys (including Members, staff, supporters, volunteers, loved ones, and more), financial data, marketing and communications data, enrollment data, and a host of other factors. We examine these when setting program goals, creating budgets, and thinking about what comes next.
  3. Digital: We are also in the process of moving towards digital systems of time keeping, record keeping, tracking the progress of our Members and more.
• Growth for Impact. Because we are able to offer exceptional person-centered service to our Members; because we focus on empowering our staff to serve; because we can tell the story of our work and its importance to our Members, the community, and in general; and because we have strong systems and financials in place, we aim to grow our impact. While the focus should be on impacting the lives of our Members, we also want to grow as a community hub, and as advocates for the field in general. How do we measure growth?
  1. Members Served: We exist to serve our Members, we believe we serve our Members well, and there is a huge unmet need in the state of California, especially when it comes to creating employment opportunities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. So, we aim to grow the number of Members we serve. Already this year we have served nearly 1200 Members.

We are also working on a plan to re-envision the campus of New Horizons. As I said, there is a lot to be excited about here at New Horizons, and I can’t wait to see what we can do for our Members over the next 70 years!

Yours in service,

Tony Pennay
Senior VP of Strategic Growth