Executive View
Page 2
Don McKenzie, Chair
In a year of significant changes within the Foundation, Jonathan Mosen's resignation as chair of the board features highly on that list. Jonathan, who has steered the organisation through its governance reforms over the past few years has received an offer of work he couldn't refuse. His new role as a marketing manager for BrailleNote, a leading-edge braille device, is a full-time commitment and Jonathan was also sensitive to the potential conflict of interest between this new role and his position as chair.
The board will sorely miss his skills and knowledge as it embraces its next major task to deliver a new three-year strategic plan.
During the year-long period that this process takes, I will be the new chair, moving up from my elected position as deputy, and I greet that challenge with enthusiasm. Geoff Gibbs will be my able deputy. Geoff, you may remember, is a past CEO of the Foundation. You can read more about his experience and skills on page 15, along with profiles of other board members.
Our new board member Jason Hollingworth was the next-highest polling candidate in the election earlier this year. Jason will be profiled in the December issue of Outlook. Linda Beck will take over my role as chair of the Stakeholder Relations Committee.
Strategic planning began in late June when we met with senior management to draft a discussion paper in accessible formats for consultation with all stakeholders. They include governing members, community committees, consumer organisations and staff. This paper went out at the end of July.
Once we have received feedback on it the planning process will flow as follows:
- end of October-draft strategic plan sent out for comment
- November-CEO meets with Community Committees and moves around the country getting feedback
- December-three-year strategic plan adopted
- 1 July 2004-plan comes into effect
In preparing the strategic plan the board will take a good look at feedback from stakeholders on service effectiveness and value. In the next five to six years our membership is likely to increase by 25 percent and demand for the Foundation's services is already surpassing available resources. We will need to carefully prioritise those resources and look for ways to work smarter and monitor outcomes so you continue to benefit.
Please look out for the discussion paper as your comments, views and suggestions are critical to sound future planning.
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Paula Daye, Acting CEO
Our business planning round for this year has been successfully completed. Normally the plan would have been based on a new 2003-2007 strategic plan but with the change of governance this year we decided to wait until the new board was in place before revisiting the Foundation's strategic direction in consultation with members. This year's plan will keep us on our toes. It includes specific targets with which we can measure how well we are actually doing at delivering the services promised. The overall goals of the plan are to deliver efficient and responsive services to you in an equitable way and to prioritise, as Don says, services that benefit the most members. Another key issue for the Foundation in the coming year is furthering the independence of all blind people in this country by increased emphasis on education opportunities, employment and participation in the community.
The new business plan has allocated resources to Adaptive Technology for a full-time helpdesk service for members and two additional adaptive technology specialists, one in Wellington and the other in the South Island. Developments in adaptive technology have been rapid and provide exciting opportunities for the blind community to access information and employment. This issue of Outlook features some of those developments, to inspire you to take up the challenge of becoming computer literate. You'll also notice that this issue has been expanded, primarily to give space for our consumer groups to promote their activities. New funding will go into producing library audio books and improving TIS so you have better access to current news. The Foundation will be enhancing its Children's Service by teaching daily living skills, by retaining our national manager and increasing habilitation staff and child and family social worker availability, peer support and O&M hours. We also hope to move Mana Kāpō and Pacific Services to South Auckland where they'll be better placed to serve those members. Those of you who visit our buildings will see new signage (logos) being gradually introduced. I regret that Jonathan Mosen, who contributed so much positive energy to the changes that underpin the new logos, will be seen less often in the Foundation's offices. I have great respect for the commitment he has shown and owe him sincere thanks. On behalf of all the staff at the Foundation I wish him well in his new role, which will have great significance for blind and vision impaired people the world over.