Strategic priorities and actions

Our shared journeycontinues
8 January 2024

20

Introduction
This document sketches the broad contours and priorities of WorldYMCA’s work plan in 2024, in line with its Operational Plan for2023-2026 approved by the World YMCA Executive Committee inMarch 2023.
If 2022 was the year of the YMCA Movement’s emotional &strategic alignment around Vision 2030, and 2023 was the year ofintellectual & structural alignment, then 2024 will see World YMCA
driving more of the practical delivery of Vision 2030, across thefour Pillars of Vision 2030, and five priority action areas for thework of World YMCA.
"Let this document be a guide for us and for all who sail with us” says World YMCA
Secretary-General Carlos Sanvee. “On top of the four Vision 2030 pillars, the four
Movement Support functions and all of our own work in World YMCA, look out for three
big themes running through the year. First, a big focus on data, as we collect evidence
and quantify our success. Second, a big focus on building teams, as we select andsupport the people who will lead our Pillar and Support function work.
And third, acceleration – as we put our foot on the pedal and accelerate all our work towards …. yes, ofcourse, the Accelerator Summit in Mombasa in October. It will be a great opportunity not just to takestock, but to take action to propel us to 2030. We look forward to seeing you there.”1

Contents
04 YMCA Vision 2030
05 YMCA Vision 2030 Pillar 1 - Community Wellbeing
06 YMCA Vision 2030 Pillar 2 - Meaningful Work
07 YMCA Vision 2030 Pillar 3 - Sustainable Planet
08 YMCA Vision 2030 Pillar 4 - Just World
09 Movement Support function 1 - Strategic
Alignment and Movement Strengthening
10 Movement Support function 2 - Learning,Innovation and Impact
11Movement Support function 3 - Advocacy andInfluence

12 Movement Support function 4 - Resource
Development and Partnerships
13 World YMCA operations
15 Some key dates

2The 2023-2026 World YMCA

Strategic Plan

Approved by the World YMCA Executive Committee, March 2023

Strategic Alignment &Movement Strengthening

Learning, Innovation & Impact

Advocacy & Influence

Resource Development& Partnerships

World YMCA
operations
3VISION 2030
• In 2024 we will continue mapping numbers of National Movements implementing Vision 2030 and its four Pillars.
• We will continue to support Area Alliances and National Movements in their implementation of Vision 2030.
• We will convene a Global Accelerator Summit in Mombasa, Kenya, in October 2024 to track and accelerate progress.
The Summit will see the launch of two action plans, for the Meaningful Work and the Just World Pillars.
• Each of the Pillars will continue to be developed following the same model: assembling stakeholders, assessing thestate of play, making the case for change, developing a shared action plan.
• Throughout the year our communications work will build awareness and engagement in Vision 2030 through news
sharing, story collection and sharing. We will coordinate Movement-wide communications around two key platforms fortelling the Vision 2030 story: the Mombasa Accelerator Summit (October) and the 180th anniversary (June).
54

Vision 2030 Pillar 1: Community Wellbeing• We will publish a State of Play which will gather key example
projects and initiatives that are happening around the Movement,
and also start connecting YMCAs that are working on this Pillar.
• We will coordinate small-scale collective communications onCommunity Wellbeing around Mental Health Day (10 October),and World Basketball Day (21 December).
• We will develop key Community Wellbeing partnerships: Kofi
Annan Foundation, WHO’s Health Brains Global Initiative (HBGI),International Federation of Basketball Foundation (FIBAFoundation) and participate in the World Health Organization Civil
Society Commission.
5

Vision 2030 Pillar 2: Meaningful Work• We will share the results of the global survey on youth
perceptions of work in the first quarter of the year, and the state ofplay report, and policy recommendations.
• We will coordinate small-scale collective communications on
Meaningful Work around Youth Skills Day (15 July).
• We will develop a Meaningful Work Thematic Strategy andidentify key sub-priorities within the Pillar where the YMCA canhave an important impact worldwide, with the support of ourInnovation Partner Deloitte Australia and YMCA Australia as aChampion of this work.
• We will continue to bring together the YMCAs that are working
around this Pillar.
• We will develop key Meaningful Work partnerships: ILO, HP Life
6

Vision 2030 Pillar 3: Sustainable Planet• We will start our innovation support work around this Pillar,
ideally in collaboration with an Innovation Partner (as a privatecompany) and with the support of a YMCA as an Innovation
Champion, following the approach taken for the Meaningful WorkPillar.
• We will publish a State of Play which will gather key example
projects and initiatives that are happening around the Movement,
and also start connecting YMCAs that are working on this Pillar.
• We will undertake small-scale collective communications on
Sustainable Planet around Earth Day (22 April), and participate in
COP 29 in November 2024
• We will continue growing our key Sustainable Planet
partnerships such as with WWF International and UNICEF’s
Generation Unlimited (Green Rising).
7

Vision 2030 Pillar 4: Just World• We will publish a State of Play which will gather key example
projects and initiatives that are happening around the Movement,
and also start connecting YMCAs that are working on this Pillar.
• We will undertake small-scale collective communications on
Just World around Women’s Day (8 March), Elimination of Racism
Day (21 March) and Migrants Day (18 December).
• Just World may be a theme of the YMCA at 180 anniversarycelebrations for June 2024.
• We will develop key Just World partnerships: HP Life,International Telecommunications Union (ITU), InternationalOrganization for Migration (IOM)8Movement Support function 1
Strategic Alignment andMovement Strengthening• We will finalise and publish a report on the status ofMovement Strengthening in both ‘donor’ and ‘recipient’countries in the first quarter of 2024, and a recommended
Movement-wide strategy in the second quarter.
• We will publish the results of the second mapping
survey on Vision 2030 strategic alignment in the firstquarter of 2024, and of the third survey in the last quarterof 2024.
• We will develop an Activation Support Framework forsupporting National YMCAs with implementing Vision
2030 in their countries, part of the Movement
Strengthening Strategy.
• We will run a YMCA National General Secretaries
meeting in Pristina, Kosovo in February, including areview of the current ‘coaching circle’ exercise.

9Movement Support function 2
Learning, Innovation andImpact• We will run an online meeting to gauge the State ofPlay in Learning, Innovation and Impact in the firstquarter of 2024.
• We will continue developing the Learning,Innovation and Impact Movement Support Function.
Its work will include proposing a Vision 2030
Concepts Guide, drafting a Targets and Indicators
Framework for the 12 Strategic Goals of Vision 2030
and organising a Movement-wide consultation onthem, launching a Learning and Innovation Task
Force, preparing and launching the technicalinfrastructure of a ‘Learning and Innovation Hub’,and designing and building a YMCA Horizons 2044
Think-Tank.

10

Movement Support function 3
Advocacy & Influence• We will conduct a review of existing
memberships and accreditations and explore newpotential World YMCA memberships, as well as
possibly - resource-permitting - developing an
integrated Advocacy and Influence Framework(primarily by establishing priority advocacy policy
areas for each of the four Vision 2030 Pillars ofImpact).
• We will continue to manage the fifth cohort ofYMCA Change Agents to its graduation in October
2024, and select and announce the sixth cohort in
the same month.

11Movement Support function 4
Resource Development andPartnerships• The Global Resource Development & Partnerships Group willmeet online four times over the year 2024.
• By the second quarter of 2024 it will develop principles on
resource development, the kinds of partnerships needed to help
achieve Vision 2030's impact objectives, gift processingprocedures, and donor privacy policy.
• We will launch pilot projects with global partners and partner
YMCAs to test key impact investing concepts related to YMCA
property and Meaningful Work.
• We will continue to invite individual National Movements orCouncils, Executive Committee members and World YMCA staff tohelp raise money for the Vision 2030 Fund.
• With World YMCA Secretary-General Carlos Sanvee newly
appointed as Chair of the 2nd phase of the Global YouthMobilization, we will steer the work of the ‘Big Six’ in launching anew round of funding – and advocacy - for Youth Led Solutions todeliver the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. GYM.2 hasreceived EURO 10 million in funding from the European Commission.

12World YMCA
Operations
Governance & Staffing• We will host Executive Committees on 20 January, 6-7 April, 22 June and 26-27 October 2024.
• We will support the work of the standing committees of the Executive Committee (Financial and Sustainability; StrategicAlignment; World YMCA Governance and Movement Governance Standards; Resource Development; Personnel; Advisory &Coordination) and the sub-committees (Investment; J.R. Mott Foundation)• We will launch pilot conversations on 21st YMCA Christian identity with National General Secretaries (February), Change
Agents (March), National Board Chairs (May), and review progress with the Executive Committee in April. The Committee will
thereafter decide on next steps for a Movement-wide conversation over 2024.
• We will conclude the Risk Register and the revision of Financial and Operational Internal Control Systems, and will continue tosupport the implementation of revised Minimum Governance Standards. We will apply for YMCA Trademarks in a further 13
countries.
• We will recruit a Global Partnerships Manager in January 2024.
• We will continue planning towards the 21st YMCA World Council in Toronto, Canada, in July 2026.
• We will continue to implement the internal goals of Vision 2030 within the World YMCA staff team, with key focus on learning& professional development and growth, wellbeing and diversity, equity and inclusion. We will accelerate efforts towards
becoming a climate-neutral organisation.
• We will continue planning towards the 21st YMCA World Council in Toronto, Canada, in July 2026.

13

Communications• We will coordinate Movement-wide sharing of theVision 2030 story with both internal and externalaudiences, with focus on preparing and sharing casestudies under each Pillar in each Region. These will
be highlighted at the YMCA’s 180th anniversary inJune, and its Accelerator Summit in October.
• We will continue to strengthen the branding
elements of both Vision 2030 and World YMCA, toorchestrate a global audience identification exercise,and to build a global network of YMCA
communicators, offering specific capacity building
support.
• We will build our website and social media
presence, publicise World YMCA’s programmes andpartnerships, and continue to develop news
bulletins targeted at the global Movement andspecifically at National General Secretaries andExecutive Committee members.
• We will launch a new campaign aimed at identifyingand using YMCA ‘Generation Z’ ambassadors onsocial media

14Key 2024 dates
JANUARY

20→ Executive Committee online
29→, Strategic alignment & Movement Strengthening field visit, Chicago

FEBRUARY

26→, National General Secretaries, Pristina
YMCA Christian identity – NGS conversation

MARCH

8 →International Women's Day
Launch of Meaningful Work survey results YMCA
Christian identity – Change Agent conversation

APRIL

6→, Executive Committee online

MAY20→, Latin America & Caribbean General Assembly
23→, Europe General Assembly
YMCA Christian identity – National Board Chair conversation

JUNE

6→ 180th anniversary
22→ Executive Committee online

JULY

15 →World Youth Skills Day

AUGUST12 → International Youth Day

OCTOBER

10→ World Mental Health Day
11→ Birthday of YMCA founder George Williams
19→ Accelerator Summit, Mombasa
26→, Executive Committee, Mombasa

NOVEMBER

COP29
Week of Prayer

DECEMBER

21→ World Basketball Day
15

YMCA’s vision is a world where every person lives inharmony with self, with society and with creation. Its
mission is to empower young people and communities
worldwide to build a just, sustainable, equitable andinclusive world, where every person can thrive in body,mind and spirit.
www.ymca.int

January 2024