CASE STUDY
“Alignment, Transparency, and Accountability”
Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges
How an innovative, inclusive approach to strategic planning helped AGB set an inspiring North Star and a clear path to success.
AT A GLANCE
Organization
AGB — Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB.org)
Mission
Serving the governing boards and leaders of higher education institutions and foundations
Project
3-year strategic plan with annual implementation planning
Consultant
Cause and Effect Strategies Angela Paik
THE CHALLENGE
The right moment — and 40,000 voices to hear
With new leadership in place, AGB's board and executive team recognized the moment for what it was: the right time to build a new strategic plan to align the board, leadership team, and organization on a clear vision for the future. In the past, goal setting was mostly operational and department-specific, and teams couldn't necessarily see how their work connected to a larger whole. The team wanted to change that.
We don't want to operate in a vacuum. We want to make sure that we are hearing from our members, taking that information into consideration, and not making any decisions without data.
— Christina Jacobs, AGB
Planning at AGB comes with a challenge most organizations don't face because of the scale and diversity of AGB's membership: the association serves more than 40,000 members across 2,000 institutions of higher education — and leadership wanted them to have the opportunity to help shaping the plan.
Christina Jacobs
VP of Marketing & Strategic Planning Lead, AGB. All quotes in this case study are from Christina.
THE SOLUTION
A consultant to synthesize, a platform to scale
AGB partnered with Angela Paik of Cause and Effect Strategies, working on the StratSimple platform, to run an AI-supported listening process open to the full membership, and to turn input at that scale into something a board could act on.
The result was a three-year strategy organized around four pillars, paired with year-by-year implementation plans rather than a static multi-year document.
It was really helpful to synthesize all of the information that we gathered — and to get us to those overarching objectives, or pillars, that encompass all of the information that's been synthesized.
— Christina Jacobs, AGB
HOW IT WORKED
From member listening to a plan the whole organization owns
STEP 1
Listening across the membership
AGB invited its full membership (and even recently lapsed members) and peer organizations to weigh in — surfacing higher-order, aspirational priorities, not just individual segments' wish lists.
STEP 2
Synthesis into four pillars
With a landscape review and synthesis of extensive survey and stakeholder interview feedback, Angela guided leadership and the board through a process that resulted in four strategic pillars — an ambitious umbrella plan the board could rally behind.
STEP 3
Annual implementation planning
The team developed a Year 1 plan with objectives, key results, and initiatives, and built a StratSimple dashboard with owners for every objective. With the format in place, the team planned Year 2 directly in the dashboard.
STEP 4
An execution rhythm that stuck
Today, 20+ team members work actively in the plan, and board reports pull progress straight from the dashboard — one source of truth.
Why AGB Chose This Approach
"You have to have a North Star, and you also have to have accountability mechanisms. That's where the dashboard comes in. The technology just makes it much easier to keep on track."
— Christina Jacobs, AGB
Every member, invited to contribute
The plan reflects member priorities — not assumptions made in a vacuum.
Synthesis, not just data
Strategic pillars the board and the whole organization can champion.
Adaptive, not static
Annual implementation plans let AGB adjust every year.
Accountability built in
Named owners, a live dashboard, and regular board reporting keep the plan off the shelf.
THE OUTCOME
More done in Year 1 than anyone expected
To spur collaboration, AGB created an Enterprise Alignment and Growth group, which meets regularly and reports to leadership on shared priorities, progress toward goals, and what they're hearing from members. AGB closed its first year with more than 85% of its Year 1 goals achieved — an ambitious list, in a time of great challenge for higher education.
AGB's approach to strategic planning is an exemplar for its members, and a meaningful outcome for an association whose mission is to strengthen board governance.