One-year update on Our Shared Future

Secretary Bunch takes a look at the implementation of the Smithsonian’s 2023 – 2027 Strategic Plan: What have we accomplished thus far? What do we have yet to do?

This month we celebrate the first-year anniversary of the Smithsonian’s Strategic Plan for 2023-2027: Our Shared Future. As you know, this plan features five broad focus areas and twenty-three (23) initiatives through which the Smithsonian has been and will continue to target our efforts over the plan’s remaining four years. In the first year of implementation, we have witnessed a growing ground swell of collective engagement across and between units to realize the greater reach, relevance, and impact for what the strategic plan envisions. Co-Leads for the twenty-three (23) initiatives have been identified and they have done significant work defining their initiatives, creating plans, and establishing major activities and milestones to accomplish intended goals. Some highlights include:

The DIGITAL Focus Area has benefited from the Office of Digital Transformation’s (ODT) efforts to foster an institutional culture of digital awareness and to take practical steps toward improving the audience experience. Collaborative efforts between OCIO and other central offices and units have driven the momentum of the tremendous advancements we have seen thus far such as the launch of the first Smithsonian integrated National Membership Program; the procurement and implementation of a new pan-institutional social media management tool supporting all SI social media managers; and the coordination, planning, and procurement of the Smithsonian’s first pan-institutional constituent relationship management system (CRM) to establish a framework for more efficient and effective collection and management of data pertaining to audience and engagement.

The NIMBLE Focus Area has seen the improvement in several processes such as streamlined hiring, which has resulted in an increase in new hires over the last year. Additionally, the Smithsonian reached an important milestone with the recruitment of our first Head Diversity Officer and the creation of the Diversity Office.

The TRUSTED SOURCE Focus Area continued to grapple with difficult collections management topics and made significant headway in crafting a re-imagined SI Collections Management Policy framework to facilitate the development of institutional policies and procedures focused on more ethical and inclusive museum practices. A steering committee has been formed to support implementation of the Shared Stewardship and Ethical Returns Policy, and an infrastructure has been established for monitoring, reporting, and communicating Ethical Returns requests. Additionally, the Rural Initiative has successfully recruited a new Rural Director who will help SI further collaborate with, and learn from, rural communities and schools.

The SCIENCE Focus Area has elevated science both at home and abroad by developing a broad and far-ranging strategy that includes advancing our efforts on supporting Life on a Sustainable Planet, completing our Smithsonian Ocean Strategic Plan, and launching SAO TEMPO, the first space-based probe to measure air pollution over North America at an hourly rate and at a neighborhood-sized scale.  In addition, a pan-institutional workgroup has created a common language for SI STEAM Education, connected SI STEAM Educators with pan-institutional programs, and helped to elevate SI STEAM education at a national and global level with participation at UNGA, COP and the Women’s Environmental Leadership Summit.   With strong support from Smithsonian Facilities staff, this focus area has also looked inward and made a conscious commitment to our institutional sustainability priorities. It initiated an internal survey on sustainability metrics and goals across units and central offices and the results will be analyzed this fiscal year. Responses from this survey will help identify key areas of importance, guide work group activities, and help marshal pan-institutional support for our sustainability goals.

The EDUCATION Focus Area has nearly completed its Education Strategy through the creation of Pan-institutional Guiding Principles, in consultation with internal stakeholders, to unify and coordinate our work. The document addresses Mission, Vision, and Values; Priorities and Goals; Shared Language; Professional Standards; and Roles and Responsibilities of the both the Office of the Under Secretary for Education and unit partners in realizing the strategy. In support of our goal to reach every classroom in the nation OUSE awarded 16 grants totally over 4 million dollars which allowed units to reach every state, D.C. and Panama with Smithsonian education and resources. Additionally, the Academic Appointments initiative has solidified a way to engage fellows with the full benefits of employment. This advancement allows the Smithsonian to better compete for top candidates, provides invaluable personal and professional benefits to selected fellows, and ensures that the Smithsonian’s research community is inclusive, diverse, accessible, and equitable. Furthermore OAAI, OF&A, OPS, OCIO worked to implement administrative and process efficiencies to improve the timeliness and processing of more than 3000 academic appointments each year which will improve the processing of background checks, ensure on time payments, and support transparency in the application and selection process.

Since its start over two years ago, the StratTeam – a team consisting of staff from across the Smithsonian assembled to facilitate a robust One Smithsonian effort around the plan’s implementation – has created initiative progress tracking tools, branded communication templates, and opportunities for Initiative Co-Leads to tap diverse talent from around the Institution. The team designs and facilitates quarterly convenings for the Co-Leads to exchange ideas, collaborate, and receive crucial information to accomplish goals. This past summer the team launched a Brown Bag series to keep the Smithsonian community informed of initiative specifics and updates. Additionally, this group has hosted two six (6) month rotation classes per year, and provides colleagues with firsthand, behind the scenes experience implementing a strategic plan of this magnitude. Finally, the team works diligently with the Co-Leads, their workgroups, and each other to drive the plan’s progress.

While we still have a way to go to accomplish all we have set out to do, we stand in appreciation and celebrate the leadership and ingenuity of you, our Smithsonian family, for laying a strong foundation for our continued success.  We eagerly look forward to the promising journey ahead as One Smithsonian toward Our Shared Future.

The abovementioned highlights are just a small sample of the great work we have all accomplished this year. To learn more about our progress and access StratTeam implementation resources, please visit the Our Shared Future Progress Update

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