Amani Ya Juu Charts Course for Future by Diving Deep Into Governance, Strategy, and Succession Planning
Industry: Nonprofit
Location: Chattanooga, TN
Service: Strategic Transformation - Governance and Finance Structures Assessment, Strategic Plan, and Succession Plan
Results:
Built a bold future vision with actionable strategies for growth and sustainability
Equipped the board with tools for founder succession and leadership transition
Improved governance and financial practices with clear role expectations
About Amani Ya Juu
Amani Ya Juu Foundation provides support through fundraising for programming and the sale and distribution of goods created in African nations. Amani Ya Juu is a sewing and reconciliation program for marginalized women in Africa. Through this work, women from many African nations and cultures are learning to work together through faith in God who provides a peace that transcends cultural and ethnic differences.
The Challenge:
Much of the work between the US Foundation and African Center has been catalyzed by the Amani Ya Juu founder and a dedicated team of family members who have moved this mission forward. As the founder transitions into retirement, the founder and local leadership team including the board of directors desired to reevaluate the organization’s vision, overall strategy and operations, as well as a succession plan to ensure their ability to sustain and grow under a new leadership structure.
The Solution:
Bridge Innovate developed a three-phase approach driven by studying the current operations and using external research to ensure that the Amani Ya Juu leadership team had necessary resources to make informed decisions to design their path forward. The phases were as follows:
Phase I - Governance Structure & Financial Streams
In-depth review of current structures were driven by extensive document reviews and in-depth interviews with various leadership members to develop a clear understanding of current practices. A detailed list of recommendations was presented to ensure maximum efficiencies and adherence to nonprofit best practices moving forward.
Phase II - Next Generation Vision and Strategic Plan
Another round of in-depth interviews acquiring an understanding of desired next generation goals for the organization, as well as external scans that provided frameworks for best market practices for social enterprises and nonprofit operations guided the development of the vision for 2028 and drove the strategic planning process.
Phase III - Succession Planning
Current state leadership evaluation and future state goals guided the Bridge Innovate’s team development of several tools for the board of directors to use in developing its succession plan.
The Results:
The outcome of this strategic transformation approach was an Amani Ya Juu Foundation Board of Directors and leadership team with a much clearer direction on how to execute their vision and strategy for expanding their operations in order to serve more women in Africa. Working through multiple phases allowed an in-depth understanding of the organization's needs and the realization that providing clear action items and direction would help this small organization with a working board achieve its goals. Project deliverables guide and empower the board through three phases of strategic transformation:
Phase I - Governance Structure & Financial Streams
Recommendations around governance and finance best practices were provided in a check-list format for primary and secondary level focuses. New future state recommended organizational structure and finance flow charts were also developed by the Bridge Innovate team.
Phase II - Next Generation Vision and Strategic Plan
Amani Ya Juu’s board of directors and current leadership team collaborated to develop a bold vision for 2028 with clear strategies around governance, leadership, funding and operations to execute on this vision. A final document to be shared with stakeholders including funders was developed to communicate the strategic plan.
Phase III - Succession Planning
Bridge Innovate was able to develop the majority of tools needed to execute the search for Amani Ya Juu’s next leader guided by input from the board of directors and current leadership team. Tools developed included job description, selection process including interview questions and onboarding processes.
Growth Scores
Overall Satisfaction Score: 9.6 / 10
Average Pre-Program Understanding: 3.4 / 10
Average Post-Program Understanding: 9.2 / 10
Average Participant Growth in Understanding: 168.02%
*self-reported score by participants on 02.04.25
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