At its final meeting of the fiscal year, PILI’s Board of Directors adopted a new Long Range Plan that will guide the organization’s work through August 31, 2026. The plan had been under development for months, with PILI inviting feedback and input from all of its leadership entities (Board of Directors, Alumni Network Leadership Council and Young Professionals Board) as well as the staff team. The process included a leadership retreat facilitated by Amy Wishnick of Wishnick & Associates and multiple opportunities for input from leadership throughout the development of the plan.
The strategic vision statement of the plan states: “PILI is a thriving, evolving organization known as a leader in advancing public interest law and pro bono legal services to achieve greater equity in access to justice.” The plan then focuses on four strategic areas: (1) Programs, (2) Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, (3) External Relations and (4) Infrastructure.
Each strategic area has an overarching statement that ties together the goals and tactics within that strategic area. Specifically to:
- Elevate our programmatic work to encompass more law students, law school graduates, lawyers and legal professionals to increase our statewide impact.
- Instill a deeply rooted organizational commitment to the principles and practices of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in all that we do and how we do it.
- Amplify PILI’s mission and work to reach and engage more program participants, organizational partners, donors and ambassadors.
- Ensure an effective and well-resourced infrastructure to maximize PILI’s ability to achieve its mission and vision.
PILI Board President, Daniel Lange of Vedder Price, had this to say about the new Long Range Plan, “I am proud of the comprehensive and inclusive approach we took to developing this plan and I look forward to working with the extremely committed PILI staff team and leadership entities on implementing this plan.” As president, Lange oversaw the development of the plan with the planning efforts led by PILI Board Vice President Kyle Petersen of Seyfarth Shaw and PILI Board Secretary Lisa McCraw of Deere & Company. Members of the board’s Internal Affairs Committee, currently chaired by Ann Pille of Reed Smith, will be responsible for monitoring the plan over the next three years.
According to PILI’s Executive Director, Michael Bergmann, “This plan will help guide PILI over the next three years as we strengthen our programmatic work in furtherance of our mission, deepen our commitment to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in all that we do, grow our community of participants, friends and supporters and ensure we have the infrastructure to support PILI now and into the future.”