Theory of Change: The BOSS Model
Over the course of fall 2023 the Branching Out Leadership team dug into where the last 4 years have brought us and how we want/need to see the future shaping up for those with differences in our community, our province, our country and our world.
I don’t need to remind anyone that we all got a little lost over the course of the years the world struggled with covid-19. We had to manage things in our new and fresh business in a way that we otherwise would never have done. Support looked different, relationships looked different and we had to literally “muddle” through a time without good mentorship – because we were all just trying to take care of ourselves and our families.
When BOSS was approved for a large investment readiness grant from the federal government, we decided to dump energy and time into our planning, strategy and infrastructure as we moved into a new dawn of service provision for people with neurodiversities in our community.
Enter our mentorship team! We were able to partner with Laridae Consulting to spend time, energy and money on getting some support about how to envision our future. We did a stakeholder survey, we worked co-currently on our BCorp (Update: still waiting as we had to get a new analyst on our file…stay tuned, we should have news this month on the BOSS BCorp Status!) and also experienced some loss of programs and services in sacrifice to financial constraints.
In a series of leadership level workshops both in person and online we started to dive into our values, philosophies, strategies and communication to ask a question: What is the vision of BOSS in the next 3-5 years. A theory of change if functional for us because it gives:
- Clarity on the business’s purpose, values and intended impact.
- It is a key decision-making tool, that helps organizations stay grounded as new opportunities
evolve.
- It is a communications strategy, that clearly articulates what we do.
What we learned was astounding. Community and participant feedback allowed us to see what we were doing really well, and the areas that needed more development and support. We looked at which services and supports were being utilized and which were not. We also looked deeply into what gaps we could identify and how we as a team and organization could fill them. Here’s where we landed:
Intended Impact Statement
By 2028, neurodiverse individuals across their lifespan and their chosen families, across Canada, will have safe resources* to thrive in the lifestyle they chose.
Definitions:
*safe resources are the BOSS model:
**Approximately 600,000 Neurodiverse individuals across Canada (2023)
This kind of learning process is not about what we are doing or not doing that is “good” or “bad” that is “success” or “failure”. This process simply allows us to look at triumphs and tensions with the explicit goal of creating better service options for our community.
We plan to do this though our commitment to change in our world and through what we are calling “The BOSS Model.”
What is the BOSS Model?
The BOSS model is a shift from traditional services that incorporates a trauma informed lens, and is driven by individuals, gives opportunities for choice, play and autonomy.
HUGE gratitude to the humans who make this work, these ideas and BOSS possible: Tabi Young, Sarah Clarke, Jeff Baker and James Loughran. Your leadership, innovation and flexibility are truly a gift. I want to assure all of our participants, caregivers, volunteers, community members and ambassadors that you have such a brilliant group of people creating holistic, equitable support in this community.
What an exciting time to be at the catalyst of change – the evolution of our community.
Be Well,
Kim and the BOSS Team.
