Minnesota Women Lawyers
Strategic
Plan
Fiscal Year
2009 – 2012
(approved by the MWL Board of Directors at its regular meeting on April
23, 2009)
MISSION
To advance the success of women lawyers and strive for a just society.
VALUES
COMMUNITY:
A strong community of women lawyers throughout Minnesota is essential to achieve
equality in the legal
profession and the administration of justice.
EQUALITY: We advocate
for the full equality of women lawyers and promote initiatives that eliminate
discrimination.
LEADERSHIP: We affirm the
importance of developing and supporting women lawyers in leadership roles.
CELEBRATION: We celebrate
the individual and collective achievements of women lawyers.
DIVERSITY: We all
benefit from promoting and valuing diversity in its many forms.
LEARNING: Women lawyers
face common opportunities and challenges and can learn from one another.
ENGAGEMENT: The practice of law
is enriched when women lawyers fully participate in the lives of their families
and
communities.
VISION
In
the coming years, the status and position of women lawyers in Minnesota will be
elevated through MWL’s work with individual
women lawyers as well as on a
systemic level. MWL will leverage its strengths and reputation to be the best
resource of
information and strategies to ensure that women succeed in the
profession. Core programs will continue to provide high quality
mentoring,
networking, and educational opportunities that increase the success of
individual women lawyers. MWL will ensure
that all activities and programs are
focused on the work that will have the greatest mission impact for both
individual women
lawyers as well as the profession itself.
GOALS & STRATEGIES
STRATEGIC GOAL A: Fundamentally elevate the
status and position of women in the legal profession.
Strategies:
1.
Be a resource for baseline information and
research on the current position of women in the profession as well as the state
of the legal profession for women. Use the information to advocate for positive
change.
2.
Create a President’s Leadership Circle comprised
of top leaders in the legal profession to collaborate with MWL to advance our mission. Leverage this partnership to further impact the
profession.
3.
Promote MWL members as experts on timely and important issues to reinforce the image
of women as leaders.
4.
Position MWL as the best source on issues related to our mission for members of the
community, (e.g. media, businesses, law faculty.)
5.
Increase the visibility and influence of
MWL within the national community
of women lawyers.
STRATEGIC GOAL B: Increase the success and leadership of women in the law.
Strategies:
1.
Position MWL as the best source for women lawyers at all career stages and in all
types of careers, as it relates to their advancement in the profession.
2.
Provide opportunities for effective networking
to help women lawyers grow their professional connections.
3.
Expand and enhance MWL’s mentoring programs.
4.
Continue to develop seminars that advance the
abilities of women lawyers (e.g. marketing, leadership, self-promotion, etc.)
and offer CLE credit when appropriate.
5.
Develop and implement strategies for women
lawyers to secure positions on nonprofit and for profit boards of directors.
STRATEGIC GOAL C: Increase member
access to MWL.
Strategies:
1.
Research, develop and implement ways to leverage
technology to effectively communicate with and serve MWL members.
2.
Strengthen MWL’s presence throughout the state by supporting current chapters and
working with members to create new chapters.
3.
Hold MWL events and programs in a variety of geographic locations.
STRATEGIC GOAL D: Build the diversity of MWL
membership.
Strategies:
1.
Ensure MWL at all levels reflects the diversity of women in the profession.
2.
Increase MWL’s membership among women lawyers in underdeveloped membership areas,
including the corporate setting, public attorneys, academia, and those in
non-traditional legal careers.
3.
Increase MWL’s membership among women of color.
4.
Evaluate MWL’s member services to ensure that we provide offerings that are of value
and interest to the diversity of women in the profession (women of color,
practice areas, practice types, etc).
STRATEGIC GOAL E: Develop and implement social action initiatives that advance
MWL’s mission.
Strategies:
1.
Evaluate the alignment of MWL’s judicial committees and their work as it relates to
MWL’s mission and develop a plan of action to move forward.
2.
Define MWL’s social action goals and guidelines and align
MWL’s committees with them.
OPERATIONAL GOALS AND
STRATEGIES
GOAL A: Evaluate MWL’s organizational
structure and align it with the strategic plan.
Strategies:
1.
Evaluate the overall effectiveness of MWL’s organizational structure, as well as the mission impact of
MWL’s committee structure and activities. Ensure all
MWL activities are aligned with the
organization’s mission and strategic plan.
2.
Ensure MWL’s resources are devoted to activities with the greatest mission impact
by utilizing the strategic plan as a tool for guidance, as well as by defining
the decision-making processes related to association activities, e.g. committee
action plans, how new committees are created, etc.
3.
Evaluate staffing needs and develop a plan to
increase administrative capacity and enable MWL to advance the mission and strategic plan.
GOAL B: Increase MWL’s fundraising capacity.
Strategies:
1.
Evaluate the potential for significantly
increasing MWL’s contributed income from individuals and legal employers.
2.
Consider opportunities to develop non-legal
employer sources of revenue.
3.
Develop and implement a comprehensive
fundraising and development plan.
GOAL C: Increase MWL’s capacity to leverage
technology to serve members and advance the mission.
Strategies:
1.
Research, develop and implement
ways to leverage technology to effectively communicate with and serve MWL
members throughout the state.
2. Partner with legal employers to utilize
their extensive technology infrastructure and resources.
3. Implement a major website overhaul by
developing a site that helps advance MWL’s strategic plan, is informative, accessible, visually appealing, and
both cost and time effective.
4. Develop a long term technology plan, so
MWL is well positioned to utilize
resources as new technologies become available and able to use these
technologies to advance the goals of the strategic plan.
GOAL D: Increase the visibility of MWL through
improved communications and branding.
Strategies:
1.
Develop and implement a comprehensive
communications plan, which identifies the most effective means of communicating
with our membership, the legal community, and the community at large.
2. Develop and implement a comprehensive
marketing plan.
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