Peers Envisioning & Engaging in Recovery Services (PEERS)
Project: Strategic Planning
Peers Envisioning & Engaging in Recovery Services (PEERS) is a peer-based behavioral health nonprofit in Oakland. Founded in 2001, PEERS provides culturally responsive, peer-based wellness strategies to people with mental health challenges and works to eliminate mental health stigma and discrimination in the community. It supports people in choosing how they tend to their mental health and recognizing their value in the community.
Why PEERS partnered with Lyons-Newman Consulting:
PEERS had recently emerged from a period of instability following multiple leadership changes within a few years and the need to refresh programs after the pandemic. With their new executive director at the helm, PEERS’ board and staff team was ready to hone in on the organization’s unique identity and chart the path for their next five years.
The process:
We started by partnering with PEERS to construct a diverse strategic planning committee (SPC) that included both staff and board. With input from the full board and staff, the SPC first explored and confirmed PEERS’ mission and vision and crafted the research plan.
The research plan centered the voices of those with lived experience, including by interviewing and surveying PEERS’ program participants. Additionally, we interviewed and surveyed PEERS’ staff, board, and external informants, which provided the SPC with insights on PEERS’ current state and potential future opportunities. The SPC also evaluated PEERS’ current and potential future programs using a customized strategy screen we developed to surface the most important and viable programs that will meet community needs and fit with PEERS’ strategic positioning. Then, the committee explored strategic directions and made decisions about PEERS’ strategic priorities and goals for the next five years.
Throughout the process, the SPC members deepened their connections with each other and the organization, while taking a leadership role in engaging other staff, board members, program participants, and external partners.
The results:
PEERS’ five-year strategic plan provides clarity on its unique identity and commits the organization to priorities and goals that the board and staff are aligned on and driven to implement together, including to:
• Launch sustainable, individual-level services in addition to existing group services
• Engage program participants through increased presence in the community
• Elevate the voices of those with lived mental health experiences to advocate for themselves