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2025–2028 Strategic Plan | The Shadow Project
The Shadow Project's Strategic Plan should be accessible to a diversity of audiences and fundamentally motivated by our vision. The Writing Style Guide defines these writing "components" in order to guide ongoing revisions and assess completed drafts of the Strategic Plan. In essence, you can treat each component as a "checklist" item.
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Writing Style Guide
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To the right, a "progress scale" outlines what different degrees of achievement can look like for each writing component, giving revisions a sense of direction. ⭐ INTEGRATINGthe component is fully actualized, helping to model/define the component
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☑️ APPLYINGthe component is clearly fulfilled, with possible opportunities for refinement
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🌱 BEGINNINGthe component identifies fundamental areas for growth and change
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Domain 1 – CLARITY
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For the writing group only to revise and self-assess drafts
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Component 1.SPECIFICITY of Ideas
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⭐INTEGRATINGPrecise selection of terms, phrases, and structures that capture the core essence of the group's intended meaning
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☑️APPLYINGAccurate uses of language that make available a small set of generally acceptable interpretations
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🌱BEGINNINGGeneral descriptions that raise an idea, which may become blurred by needs for clarification
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Component 2.
DISTINCTION of Ideas
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⭐ INTEGRATINGDifferentiating explanations that not only help each idea feel unique, but also display how each idea works in harmony to create a larger whole
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☑️ APPLYINGRecognizable separations between ideas that help most of them appear unique, with possible areas where ideas begin blur together
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🌱 BEGINNINGBroad implications of where ideas are separate from one another; ideas are seen to have more similarities than the nuances that distinguish them
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Component 3.
READABILITY of Ideas
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⭐ INTEGRATINGAccessible phrasings that empower a wide spectrum of reading levels/abilities to access ideas, without necessarily dulling those ideas' complexity
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☑️ APPLYINGStraightforward language that allows most readers to understand most to all ideas presented, perhaps while leaning towards adult readership
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🌱 BEGINNINGIntricate descriptions that capture ideas with precision, but maybe doing so by using arguably unnecessary jargon or high-lexile text constructions
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Domain 2 – VALUES ALIGNMENT
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For the Shadow Project as a whole to assess completed drafts
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Component 4.
RELEVANCE of Approaches
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⭐ INTEGRATINGPersonal goals, outcomes, strategies etc. that honor the Shadow Project's unique methodologies and needs; the plan feels powerfully like it's "ours"
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☑️ APPLYINGFitting ideas that align with generally shared desires to advance educational justice, where most of the plan feels unique to the Shadow Project
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🌱 BEGINNINGBroad undertakings to which generally any educational justice organization could commit, not necessarily designed with Shadow in mind
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Component 5.
PURPOSE of Approaches
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⭐ INTEGRATINGMeaningful roadmap that align the next 3 years with the longer-term pursuit and practice of our mission, core values, and vision (from the 2024 retreat)
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☑️ APPLYINGDeliberate sense of direction for the next 3 years, fully motivated by our core values, though perhaps implicitly aligned with our mission and vision
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🌱 BEGINNINGApparent inspiration from mission, vision, and core values, which might be more implied or inferred rather than directly identifiable and traceable
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Component 6.
ACHIEVABILITY of Approaches
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⭐ INTEGRATINGUplifting journeys towards change that move at realistic, human paces, with clear opportunities to celebrate meaningful and measurable milestones
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☑️ APPLYINGTime-bound expectations for planned impact that regularly allow moments of reflection on progress, punctuated by benchmarks
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🌱 BEGINNINGDoable plans based in reason, not necessarily having staff, volunteers, or board members' senses of motivation, celebration, and/or bandwidths in mind
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