HealthMPowers President and CEO, Jennifer L. Owens, today released the organization’s 2022-2025 strategic plan, outlining the organization’s core purpose, vision, mission, and values, along with six ambitious strategies designed to address key internal and external challenges.
The objective is to amplify HealthMPowers impact and accelerate change in Georgia communities by elevating youth voices, cultivating and deepening relationships, and leveraging data to champion health equity. Meeting these objectives will allow HealthMPowers to proactively address the root cause of many preventable chronic diseases—poor nutrition and lack of physical activity—to ensure all Georgia children are nourished and active.
“I am brimming with excitement to share the 2022-20225 HealthMPowers strategic plan, and I am confident it will serve as a powerful roadmap as we navigate through these next three years,” said Jennifer L. Owens, President and CEO, HealthMPowers. “Our commitment to elevating youth voices and centering our work to drive toward more equitable health outcomes are in alignment with our mission to champion healthy habits and transform the environments where children live, learn and play.”
The strategic plan lays out four key outcomes to achieve each year:
Activate 1,000 student health leaders to promote improvements in healthy eating and physical activity in their schools and communities
Support 400 policy, systems, and environmental changes across organizations to ensure sustainability
Positively influence the health behaviors of 130,000 youth through training and education
Lead the conversation and drive change in Georgia
The Plan: Aspiration 2025
The HealthMPowers’ strategic plan is a culmination of a year-long planning process involving students, educators, parents, the HealthMPowers board of directors, and staff. Youth involvement was a central component in the creation of the strategic plan. For the first time ever, youth program participants provided their perspectives to inform priorities and shape program implementation.
“This plan is grounded in feedback and direction from the real experts, those we serve alongside in schools and in the community, coupled with strong data and best practice strategies,” added Owens. “Our big bet as an organization is how can we fully center youth voice across all our programs and strategies and truly lift up youth voice and leadership to create the next generation of healthy Georgians.”
Below is a short synopsis of the six key strategies HealthMPowers will implement over the next three years:
Strategy 1:
Deliver high-impact learning experiences that foster healthy habits- with a unique focus on youth voice.
Strategy 2:
Cultivate environments and conditions where children live, learn, and play by breaking down barriers to make the healthy choice the easy choice.
Strategy 3:
Serve as a thought leader to lead the conversation and drive change in Georgia.
Strategy 4:
Build a clear, trusted, and recognized brand identity that communicates our superpowers to key audiences.
Strategy 5:
Cement HealthMPowers operational foundation to enable future growth
Strategy 6:
Diversify and grow revenue to sustain long-term impact.
“I am encouraged by the development of the strategic plan,” said Keith Perkey, Chair, HealthMPowers Board of Directors. “It was a very organic process led by the HealthMPowers leadership team. What makes that exciting to me, is that the plan was not dictated to the team. They created it and I look forward to witnessing firsthand the energy the team puts into executing it.”
Over the next three years, the organization will continue to engage with stakeholders and partners across Georgia to achieve the listed outcomes.