Project

Business strategy and business structure review and overhaul for ABC Ontario


Case Description

Established in 1975, the Association for Bright Children of Ontario (ABC Ontario) is an all-volunteer, provincially incorporated support and advocacy group, with a provincial executive and local chapters across Ontario. It is dedicated to providing information and support to parents of bright and gifted children/adolescents through newsletters, networking, an annual conference and local workshops. It offers the parents' voice to local school boards, educators, professional groups and the Ontario Ministry of Education and Training.

ABC's objectives are:

• To be a resource to bright and gifted children and youth, to their families, to educators and to the community;
• To provide information, programs and materials pertaining to the social, emotional and intellectual development of bright and gifted children/youth;
• To provide support and guidance to parents and educators as they advocate for their bright and gifted children/youth;
• To act as a network for parents and educators by providing opportunities for the sharing of information and common concerns;
• To advocate for appropriate educational programs and services for bright and gifted children/youth; and
• To work co-operatively with:
  - all levels of government
  - the Ontario Ministry of Education and Training
  - educators and other professional groups
  - local school boards
  - other parent associations

ABC’s business structure and web site are due for a major overhaul, and the organization would like EVCN’s assistance. For the most part, the Association is virtual, but has significant influence across the province and with the Ministry of Education. The organization’s web site needs to become more central for both the community and commerce.

ABC’s goals are to:

• Re-develop an overall strategy
• Consider all revenue streams without a membership fee model

The strategy would lay the foundation for a web/technology transition, with the final step being an overhaul of the web site to include richer applications and a community dynamic.

Association for Bright Children of Ontario (ABC Ontario) Website:
http://www.abcontario.ca/
 

Consulting Team

Project Advisor
Jane Zhang
Partnership Coordinator, Partnership Platform

Team Journal

June 2008

As a team, we have just completed our first month and a half on the ABC project and so far, it has been a great experience. Our consulting team is made up of our project advisor, Jane Zhang, our engagement manager, Danielle Thibodeau, our senior consultant Henry Chang and four consultants, Rashid Abu-Ghazalah, Daniel Park, Neeharika Tummala and myself, Bryana Lee, all of whom have been a pleasure to work with. Our diverse and varying backgrounds have created a well-balanced and interesting group of people to work.

Our client is the Association for Bright Children of Ontario (ABC Ontario), which is a support and advocacy group focused on providing information and support to parents of bright and gifted children, as well as educators, as well as representing the interests of gifted children to local boards of education and to the provincial Ministry of Education and Training. We have been tasked with developing a strategy for ABC as well as considering revenue streams outside of a membership fee model.

Throughout the past month and a half, we have worked on getting to know ABC through Danielle’s meetings with our contact, Dennis, attending ABC’s annual conference, as well as through our careful and thorough analysis of ABC’s website, policy documents, etc. Our first goal is to really understand our client’s needs, goals, mission, etc. in order to develop a strong and manageable project scope, and much of our work so far (including a lot of research, document analysis, etc.) has been structured around this very important and significant step. At the same time, we are aware of our general timeline and have begun to work on various issues that will play important parts in our final report.

In general, our team has really enjoyed our experiences so far and we have learned a lot from not only our great project advisor and engagement manager, but from each other. We look forward to the coming months as we work towards making our contribution to ABC.

-- Bryana Lee, Consultant

 

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