Introducing SFYT’s 3-Year Strategic Plan!
During our 10th anniversary year, SFYT recognized a pivotal moment had arrived, inspiring a comprehensive look at its future. Our 3-year strategic plannning process began in September 2024 with Sunburst Strategies. The central decision facing SFYT was critical: should the organization continue on its recent growth trajectory, or should it strategically hold its current scale and focus resources on maximizing quality and program impact? To answer this, we examined variables like the evolving needs of its youth population, the potential for new funding, and its existing strengths and vulnerabilities.
OUR PROCESS
A Strategic Planning Committee composed of dedicated board and staff members was formed, kicking off a meticulous, data-driven discovery phase, consisting of three main activities.
Extensive interviews with 11 external stakeholders to gauge program impact, organizational performance, and key environmental trends.
An analysis of 10 different SFYT surveys collected over the past five years provided essential quantitative ratings and qualitative feedback directly from students, parents, and teachers.
An in-depth funding model analysis, reviewing four years of financial and fundraising documents to pinpoint fiscal opportunities and vulnerabilities.
A few quotes from our stakeholders:
The bilingual program is among the most impactful ones that they do. The kids and teachers who speak Spanish really appreciate that capability. Whenever I have had a chance to observe, it is magical. The [SFYT] teachers bring so much experience and props and skills, it is super joyful and fun.
At the time we found SFYT, we were looking for ways to engage students with literature in a non-intimidating way to support English language fluency. The way they worked with kids to read short scripts and plays was a wonderful integration with our literacy goals, and was also fun and engaging.
It was so cool to see the families and friends in the audience respond to the youth on stage finding their own agency and voice. Some youth performing in front of large audiences might be anxious or nervous; these youth were vulnerable, but brave too. I attribute it to the kinds of connections that were made between them and SFYT as a grassroots organization.
This data collection culminated in a staff and board retreat in January 2025, where participants processed the findings and generated ideas for future strategies. In the months following, the planning effort intensified through bi-weekly meetings across various committees. Dedicated staff sessions zeroed in on the specifics of how programs should be expanded and strengthened to best serve the community, while Finance Committee sessions focused on creating innovative strategies to reinforce SFYT’s funding model.
SFYT Theory of Change
THEORY OF CHANGE
Leading up to its recent strategic planning, San Francisco Youth Theatre had already established a strong foundation by developing detailed logic models for its programs. These models were crucial in forming our Theory of Change—a hypothesis outlining the structure and goals of our programming. This Theory of Change is guides SFYT's refinement of its program survey tools to measure where intended changes are occurring and to identify necessary program evolution, a process that will continue throughout the three-year plan.
SFYT FOCAL POPULATIONS
SFYT has developed a detailed framework for thinking about its focal populations within San Francisco to strategically guide where to pursue or expand programming and which community partnerships to prioritize, ensuring the youth who stand to benefit most from SFYT's theatre arts opportunities are reached.
IMPLEMENTING THE STRATEGIC PLAN
In August 2025, SFYT hired Zoë Klein as an Organizations Systems Consultant to manage the implementation of SFYT’s three-year Strategic Plan. The plan focuses on improving program and organizational performance, increasing responsiveness to the external environment, and ensuring long-term sustainability despite future turnover. By the end of three years, SFYT will have undergone 4 Organizational Strategies and 3 Programmatic Strategies to guide its success. This fall, SFYT is focusing on Organizational Structure Redesign and working towards selecting a CRM database to improve fundraising methods starting in 2026. This three-year growth plan will ensure SFYT has the foundational structure, curriculum, staff expertise, community partnerships, and other resources needed to effectively serve our youth communities.
SFYT SAYS THANK YOU TO….
The 11 stakeholder interviewees including parents, funders, community organizations and school administrators.
Our strategic plan advisor, Alex Hildebrand at Sunburst Strategies, LLC.
The following Board Members and Staff who comprised our Strategic Planning Committee:
Board Members: Alysia Gonzales, Amanda Jacobson, Nikita Shrimanker.
Staff: Dyana Diaz, Emily Klion, Maica Folch
Our generous funders: San Francisco Arts Commission and the Eva Gunther Foundation