Lift Louisiana (“Lift”) is a state-wide policy advocacy organization working to “educate, advocate and litigate for policy changes needed to improve the health and wellbeing of women in Louisiana, their families and communities.” In 2017, Converge supported Lift Louisiana in developing a 3-year strategic operational plan, a Racial Equity and Inclusion framework and accompanying tools, and confirmed Lift’s values, mission, constituency and key terms. This plan included board-specific goals, defined governance structures for decision-making, an equitable recruitment process and a budget for implementation. Following the strategic planning engagement, the Lift Board Development Committee asked Converge to facilitate three to four sessions (each 1.5 -2 hours) on board development.

During the board development engagement, Converge created customized assessment instruments, provided best practice models and recommendations for the client’s consideration. More specifically, we assessed current state of the LIFT Board of Directors, including current diversity in terms of skills/professional experience, racial/ethnic, geographic, gender, sexual orientation, etc) via customized survey instrument. We also facilitated 3-4 meetings with the full Board or Board Development committee to create a Board Development Plan that articulates board-specific goals over a three-year timeline, in alignment with Lift’s strategic plan. Converge guided Lift’s Board Development Committee through the process of defining governance structures for decision-making in the context of Lift REI Framework as a central tenet.