Page 6 - October 2023

JSF RETREAT 2023: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF OUR SCOPE (3)
STATEMENTS FOR DISCUSSION
• Broadening scope offers the illusion of serving more people.
• Tightening our scope allows us to better serve a population. What we learn is transferrable to recognizing the next promising opportunity.
• Strategy, not scope is where we keep Directors engaged.
• When we consider the vision of JSF, we should resist the temptation to see ourselves as the complete answer. We serve the solution best by acknowledging the limits of our funding and making the most of the role we play.
• We start from a broad position from our Founders’ directive to serve three people groups. Because of that, we should consider the value of a narrow outcome (education).
• Ideally, JSF discretionary grants (60%) should complement our core grants (40%). Eliminating employment from our mission statement and economic development from our strategy would enable this alignment.
• We believe that a post-secondary education is one of a few pathways to securing the full benefits of a free society. There are others, but JSF’s focus is education.
• The issues of unemployment for people with disabilities and economic commerce in Indigenous communities are real and important. However, the scope of these issues doesn’t match the splintered annual investment of $2.2 million over two countries. If we were to invest all our discretionary dollars in one country, for one people group, through one approach (scholarship, endowment, program), with one targeted outcome, we still couldn’t come close to meeting the need. We will serve these populations with greater impact if we employ a more focused approach.
• JSF impact would be enhanced by aligning all three program areas.
• A college graduate is more employable and better equipped to benefit their family and community. For JSF, that is enough.
• We’ve learned that promising students must be prepared for post-secondary education. This preparation can require intervention at an earlier age. We look for programs we believe are underfunded. Mentoring and accommodations are some of the elements that can make the difference for disadvantaged students’ success with post-secondary promise.
IF/ HOW/ WHEN
A change to remove employment from our mission could be evaluated over the next nine months, culminating in September 2024. Grant agreements pertaining to employment should be grandfathered in. We should notify our grantees that we intend to fulfill our current grant agreements, but that our mission and strategy have evolved to focus on education.
QUALIFICATIONS
The current mission statement is good. JSF has made productive grants that would no longer align with a mission that explicitly excludes employment. The consideration of this edit does not mean these investments are mistakes. Should the committee approve some measure of this change, it will only increase our impact.
Page 4 October Report