20 Feb Taking R.O.C.K. to the Next Level

Taking R.O.C.K. to the Next Level
By Curt Yagi, Executive Director

I still remember my first exposure to R.O.C.K. close to 20 years ago.  It was spring and I was volunteering for the first time at Skill Drills, our signature Saturday sports clinic series for elementary school children.  The activity was soccer and I was nervous to be working with kids whom I had never met before.  Almost immediately after walking into the gym at Visitacion Valley Middle School, I felt the positive vibe of the program and noticed how much fun the kids were having.  Their energy was infectious and I couldn’t stop smiling.

20 years later, as R.O.C.K.’s Executive Director, I am excited by how far the organization has progressed while staying true to our identity as a place that allows kids to be kids.  Based on the needs of the community, our programs have expanded to include a full range of services for children and youth of all ages.  We have everything from in-school support for extremely high risk youth to college tours for high school participants.  However, in looking back at our accomplishments, it was important to reflect on our work and clarify the impact we intend to have in the lives of our young people going forward.

Just over a year ago and with the help of nonprofit consultancy Partners in Scale, we engaged in a comprehensive strategic planning process.  This work was critical in order to deepen our impact, reengage our investors, and set our organization up to take R.O.C.K. to the next level. With valuable input from our partners, donors, staff members, and families, we identified a set of student-level outcomes that we will hold ourselves accountable to. We have also articulated three strategic priorities that will set us on a path to ensure we are delivering effective, enriching programs, and that we as an organization are continuously improving upon our efforts.

I am beyond excited to announce our 3-year strategic plan (feel free to read it in its entirety here) as I believe it will not only guide R.O.C.K. to be a more impactful organization, but it will maintain that positive vibe I felt 20 years ago.

View the full 3-year strategic plan

Have ideas for contributing to our plan?  Email Curt.