Fort McPherson Redevelopment Authority

Finding the “why” and crafting a mission statement and goals.

When we were hired by the redevelopment authority of a decommissioned army base south of Atlanta, built in the 1880s, the redevelopment authority was in the process of inking a deal with Tyler Perry Studios to turn part of the property into a movie studio. Finally after 10 years of planning, the authority would have the financing to move forward in redeveloping the remaining 144 acres they controlled.

Suddenly the board and five person staff was faced with rapidly moving from planning mode to action mode and they needed clarity on where their focus should be given the immense task in front of them. Identifying their values, so they could be better storytellers about the great opportunity to bring this historic property back to life and breathe opportunity into the surrounding community, was a crucial goal.

We designed a strategic planning session that involved staff and board, and was open to the community, many of whom came. The conversations were vast and deep, resulting in clarity about “why” they are doing this important work. From there we crafted mission and vision statements, which lead us to creating the overall goals by which the authority will steer its way forward. Smart goals, objectives and a timeline followed to give them a very clear vision of and alignment around the work to come.