Strategic Plan - Legal Action Chicago

The Board of Legal Action Chicago adopted a three-year strategic plan that went into place as the organization’s operations began in January 2021. Under the plan, Legal Action in general will undertake matters that are within the joint mission of Legal Action Chicago and Legal Aid Chicago and that meet at least the following priority criteria:

The potential outcome of a matter, if successful, will justify the expenditure of resources devoted to it.
Legal Action’s involvement is a value-add and not duplicative of work already in progress by other organizations with similar missions.
The work answers a demonstrated community need.
The work reflects a strategic priority for racial justice/racial equity.

Legal Action’s 2021-2023 Goals

Legal Action will be an established and welcomed leader on the issues within its mission, fitting well and productively among other organizations doing similar work. Legal Action will be capable of leading a legislative and administrative agenda each year and of leading complex class action litigation. Legal Action will be capable of deploying communications strategies on all of its projects, participating productively in coalitions and community partnerships, and otherwise positioning itself to influence policy and systems affecting its mission.
Legal Action will have deployed its capacities to produce results with and for low income people and communities. It will have had a leadership role in winning passage of bills, ordinances, budget initiatives and administrative rule/policy/procedure changes. It will have a leadership role in a docket of complex litigation matters. It will have shown demonstrated community need and/or had significant community engagement or partnerships on all of its initiatives; and it will have a substantial racial equity or racial justice analysis and involvement in all of its initiatives.
Legal Action will conduct an annual agenda-setting process with Legal Aid practice groups in order to learn about problems facing clients and whether proposed solutions would be helpful. Legal Action and Legal Aid will share community relationships, cooperate on projects where allowable under restrictions in Legal Aid’s funding sources, regularly inform one another of developments in the policies and systems affecting their practices, and participate jointly in publicity about their work.
Legal Action will have secured adequate support to sustain its programs and create potential for growth. Legal Action staff will receive annual professional development support for training and/or conferences. Legal Action staff will be experts or presenters on a regular basis for training programs, webinars or conferences. Legal Action will have all necessary support for technology, research, financial, HR, and travel needs.