Foundation Update (Spring 2006 issue)
From The Top
MISSION POSSIBLE
A revised mission statement and new three-year strategic plan reaffirm the NAA Foundation’s commitment to the industry’s future.
“The Newspaper Association of America Foundation strives to develop engaged and literate citizens in our diverse society through investment in and support of programs designed to enhance student achievement through newspaper readership and appreciation of the First Amendment.”
In the fall of 2005, we adopted the above sentence as our mission statement. While drafting it – and a strategic plan to match – we gave a lot of thought to the goals we want to achieve over the next three years.
Suggestions and advice came from the NAA Foundation Board of Trustees and the Foundation’s Youth Services Committee, which includes Newspaper In Education (NIE) professionals, youth editors and scholastic journalism advocates. A strategic planning task force made up of representatives from the Board of Trustees and the Youth Services Committee also was formed to discuss the matter in detail.
After some fine-tuning during the fall meeting of the Board of Trustees, the revised mission statement and strategic plan were adopted.
As many of you know, the NAA Foundation fulfills its mission through programs and products that emphasize the use of newspapers and other media. Specifically, we focus on three primary areas: NIE, youth content and student newspapers.
The NAA Foundation will concentrate over the next three years on four main goals: to improve the quality and impact of programs and products; to promote programs and products effectively; to increase the usage of programs and products; and to devise and implement multi-platform strategies for delivering programs and products.
How will we accomplish all of this? For starters, we will conduct a major research project each year in one of our three primary focus areas. A study to gauge the impact of youth content on future newspaper readership is already under way. We will unveil the results at the 2006 Young Reader Conference, scheduled for July 22-26 in St. Louis. Research on NIE will take place in 2007, and a study on student newspapers will be conducted in 2008.
This research will, of course, guide us as we evaluate our current programs and products, and develop new ones. Input from those of you in the field will play a critical role in this effort as well. Let me take this opportunity to encourage everyone to complete and return the short surveys that will pop up from time to time on the e-forums, with curriculum guides and other materials, and in NAA Foundation Update magazine (including the one featured on the back cover of this issue).
We also will work to spread the word about what we do and what we offer by increasing communication with and outreach to state press associations and other organizations. We will share our “success stories” with a wider industry audience. We will seek ways of delivering our programs and products over the Internet and through other appropriate platforms – and help our constituents in NIE, youth content and student newspapers do the same.
It’s an ambitious plan, but we feel confident in our ability to meet these goals and live up to the responsibilities outlined in our mission statement. After all, the very future of our industry depends upon it.
Sincerely,
Margaret Vassilikos
Senior Vice President/Chief Financial Officer
NAA and NAA Foundation
(703) 902-1629
vassm@naa.org
