Strategic Priorities
In July 2014, the Institute for Recruitment of Teachers (IRT) embarked on a strategic planning process that set forth a new vision and reaffirmed our foundational values about the impact of teacher diversity on education excellence. This new strategic plan, IRT Vision 2020, is driven by our focus on sustainability, innovation, and improving internal processes; strengthening essential relationships through partnerships; becoming the trusted source for America’s next generation of educational leaders through the pipeline of IRT fellows and alumni; and, having a national impact by shaping public opinion about the intrinsic link between diversity and educational excellence. We are inspired by our vision of the future potential impact of the IRT!
Priority One: Become a Sustainable Enterprise
Strategies
To reach this goal over the next five years, we will:
- Broaden and enhance the base of sustainable financial resources, including new philanthropic partnerships.
- Improve internal processes to build fiscal capacity and efficient infrastructure, provide professional development for staff, and use technology to develop program delivery models that reach a broader range of partners and candidates.
- Advance a sense of shared purpose in IRT’s mission in order to ensure a lifelong commitment by its students and propagate a legacy of influence.
- Collaborate with Phillips Academy on ways to deepen the integration of IRT and contribute to the advancement of Phillips Academy’s strategic plan.
- Adopt a culture of assessment and continuous improvement.
Goal: By 2020, IRT will be an exemplar of impactful organizational performance, resource management, learning and growth, and healthy constituent relationships.
Priority Two: Become an Epicenter of Ideas and Innovation
Strategies
To reach this goal over the next five years, we will:
- Cultivate a vibrant professional development and mentoring network of public intellectuals, educators, advocates, and partners committed to developing innovative pedagogical approaches and theoretical contributions on the intrinsic value of diversity in education excellence.
- Develop and implement alumni programs to help all alumni become advocates for diversity as a pillar for excellence in education; strengthen their ability to advocate for the public relevancy of their disciplines and address structural inequalities; give back to IRT; support one another; and be integrated into the IRT community throughout all career stages.
- Curate and expand the IRT consortium and create complementary partnerships with interested academic, social, and philanthropic institutions.
- Serve as a repository to share and disseminate the most relevant resources and tools for promoting innovation in diversity and education.
Goal: By 2020, IRT will be a thought leader for educational innovation, policy and advocacy, and collaboration based on educator diversity and educational excellence.
Priority Three: Become a Trusted Source of Excellent Diverse Educators
Strategies
To reach this goal over the next five years, we will:
- Develop a nationally recognized brand by increasing the visibility of IRT’s program, students, alumni, and partnerships as a dynamic pipeline for diverse educational leaders and as a national thought leader in teacher education, innovative practice, and policy.
- Collaborate with other institutions to meet the diversity hiring demands in teaching professions and educational leadership by creating educational and career opportunities resource networks.
- Form strategic alliances with new audiences to expand recruitment pools and innovate recruitment practices to increase accessibility across emerging and targeted geographic, demographic, and psychographic markets.
- Actively engage IRT’s robust network of alumni and partners in accelerating access for IRT alumni at all levels of education and the next stage of their career development.
Goal: By 2020, IRT will be American education’s pipeline of reference for diverse and transformative educators with a lifelong commitment to excellence.
