This is a guest post written by Betty Warner

The Kendal-Crosslands Communities (KCC) Board recently invited all KCC residents and staff to contribute to the KCC Board’s 2025 Strategic Plan. For residents, this was exciting news, especially as residents have been advocating for greater input for years, building on the 2017 Working Group report and the recent KRA Task Force on Values in Practice. For many, this invitation marked the achievement of a long-expressed goal: to directly involve residents in planning for their shared future.

An Evolving Process Driven by Collaboration. While resident involvement in KCC’s long range planning isn’t new – residents have long served on the KCC Board’s Long Range Planning (LRP) Committee and even on the governing KCC Board itself – this year’s approach took resident engagement to a new level. The Board’s plan for its re-named Strategic Plan included a paid consultant, Diane Burfeindt of Trilogy Connect, and an initial proposal for group resident sessions. As always, the ultimate responsibility for planning KCC’s future resides with the KCC Board, which is growing in size and expertise to handle the challenges inherent in our community.

This year, KCC’s community value of collaboration truly shone through. After an initial “Strategic Planning Kick-off ” presentation on April 23, two knowledgeable resident members of the Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) quickly drafted a modified proposal. Multiple 90-minute small group sessions led by resident facilitators, would substitute for larger, shorter consultant-led gatherings. They also proposed two Zoom summary sessions to ensure resident input was clearly heard and acknowledged by the consultant and the KCC Board.

A Rapid Turnaround for a Modified Resident Engagement. The immediate and enthusiastic response from the SPC to this resident-led proposal was remarkable. The plan was swiftly approved by the Advisory Committee, leading to a rapid turnaround that explains the compressed timeline for marketing the sessions to residents. Registration for the 22 small group sessions, scheduled for May 6-10, opened just one week after the Kick-off presentation!

The Power of “Community” in Action. The success of these small group sessions is a testament to an awesome amount of collaboration and hard work from across the community.

  • The KCC Board’s Strategic Planning Advisory Committee readily supported the last-minute change, with Will Hurd, Clerk of the SPC and KCC Board member presenting the proposal. Will then added to his workload the facilitation of four Zoom sessions and the adaptation of an online reservation system for facilitators, recorders and staff.  
  • The Senior Leadership Team actively participated in sessions, and the Senior Director of Communication adeptly managed room assignments and logistics for the 18 in-person sessions.
  • Joe Savery, a Crosslands resident with a history of Kendal Corporation systems development brilliantly created an online reservation system in just 48 hours, which went live days after the plan’s approval.
  • 144 residents registered, attended, and actively participated in the sessions, with even more tuning into the Zoom summaries.
  • SPC members meticulously planned, facilitated, and reported on the sessions, demonstrating incredible dedication, commitment and speed.

This entire process vividly embodies one of KCC’s four cornerstone values: community. Our KCC community is defined as “residents, staff and board members united by mutual concern, care, and commitment” in which we “thrive on participation, collaboration, consensus-building, and transparency.” We truly lived these values in the resident engagement for the 2025 KCC Strategic Plan: residents spoke, were heard, and gave meaningful input to the future strategies of KCC success. (Staff also provided input to the KCC Board in a series of SWOT analysis.)

The KCC structure of collaboration and participation is much more robust than this single series of events. Collaborative committees provide opportunities for residents to work with staff on operational issues, such as food service, housekeeping, our beloved woods and even interior decorating. Staff and residents relate as friends as well as work partners. The SWOT analysis accompanying our strategic planning endeavor placed positive relationships with staff and KCC Board as a strength. Residents at KCC frequently end their discussions of the day’s events with “How lucky we are to live here.” The purpose and meaning which comes from belonging and participating in a community where each of us is committed to the other is the secret to KCC’s success.

Members of the SPC: Will Hurd (Clerk), Andrea Taylor (KCC Board Member and Kendal resident), Jenn Helle (KCC Board Member and Strategic Planning Process Project Manager), Anthony Stover (KCC Board), Betty Warner (Kendal Resident), Allen Prindle (Crosslands Resident), Pat Mapps (Cartmel resident), Peter Thomas (Kendal Resident), Michele Berardi (Senior Director of Communication), Ed Plasha (Chief Financial Officer), Rick Spackman (KCC Board Clerk), Lisa Marsilio (KCC Chief Executive Officer).