Global Strategic Planning for ISN
Consolidating growth and maintaining momentum for a diverse international scientific society
The Challenge
More than 850 million people worldwide have some form of kidney disease. Between 5.3 and 10.5 million people require dialysis or transplantation, although many do not receive these treatments due to lack of resources or financial barriers.
Since 1960, the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) has worked toward a future where all people have equitable access to sustainable kidney health.
ISN successfully implemented its 2018-2023 strategic plan – despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic – and was seeking a facilitator for their next strategic assessment.
Continued success would be based on sustaining this momentum through an engaged and energised global community.
The Journey
With an experienced headquarters staff and well-established operations, ISN possessed a wealth of performance-related data to evaluate and assess its current situation
Exempla’s role was to provide a fresh perspective both on ISN’s strategic outlook and from associations more generally – especially those that had a global footprint.
The process began in advance of the actual strategic planning period – introducing the Exempla consultants to the ISN Executive Committee to outline the approach, and ensuring that in the months prior to the performance assessment the relevant measurements and reporting mechanisms were already in place.
Exempla subsequently worked closely with senior ISN staff to evaluate progress, explore ISN’s business model and identify potential improvements.
With this foundational knowledge in place, we then engaged directly with ISN Executive Committee members and other key volunteer leaders to gather insights from the perspective of dozens of medical and scientific experts. Interviews and surveys were prepared, conducted, analysed and summarised.
As ISN is truly global, care was taken to ensure the process would include diverse viewpoints from each of ISN’s 10 regions.
A series of summary presentations and discussion sessions planned with the Executive Committee during the evaluation process, provided feedback and alignment at each milestone in the strategy development process.
This culminated in an in-person workshop where Exempla shared insights on hot topics related to post-pandemic association strategy and value propositions, prior to presenting the draft strategic framework and facilitating brainstorming sessions.
Having reviewed the strategic framework and gathered the Executive Committee’s input, Exempla debriefed with the ISN staff team so they could finalise the planning and budgeting and develop the public communication materials.
TESTIMONIAL
“We appreciated how Exempla invested time to really understand the context of the association and tailored the strategic planning process accordingly. They were also comfortable working across the diverse cultures and time zones that come with such a global organisation as the ISN.”
Sophie Dupuis
Grants & Education Director
International Society of Nephrology
The Result
The evaluation highlighted ISN’s uniquely global nature and new opportunities to enhance impact and foster innovation with the help of its numerous stakeholders. Adding a section focused on agility and resilience demonstrates forward thinking about operating and business models in a period of rapid technological change and geopolitical uncertainty.
Read more about the ISN mission and strategy here: https://www.theisn.org/about-isn/mission-vision-values/