Blooming Boulevards 2023- 2026 Strategic Plan
BLOOMING BOULEVARDS BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2022 - 2023
Jeanne McRight, President
Sheila Cressman, Secretary
Mary Jean Kucerak, Treasurer
Wayne Cardinalli, Director
Archna Gupta, Director
Angela Jordan, Director
Jacqueline McKernan, Director
Murray Moore, Director
Pamela Sleightholm, Director
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
MISSION
We connect neighbourhoods to nature, providing a network of native habitat gardens and opportunities for inclusive community engagement, education, and collaboration.
VISION
Our vision is a city-wide environment that supports well-being for all of its inhabitants - wildlife and natural resources as well as people. We envision a city with a resilient, biodiverse ecosystem that fosters community engagement through meaningful interactions with nature.
ORGANIZATION HISTORY
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We developed the mission and goals of Blooming Boulevards in early 2019 and assembled our expert volunteer Board of Directors who made our programs successful during our 2019 - 2022 Pilot Project. Beyond this, we developed a phased plan for future decades of program and service expansion. We created two main programs that offer complementary services designed to support biodiversity, engage public participation and support City strategic priorities: our Gardens program and our Education and Outreach program.
We expanded our volunteer training program to help maximize our plant propagation efforts and increase production of drought- and salt-resistant indigenous native plant seedlings. In our first three years, we increased the number of new garden steward applicants from 14 in 2019 to nearly 100 in 2022, resulting in a steady annual increase in new pollinator gardens in neighbourhoods and in city parks across the city.
We expanded our educational workshop programs which offer free, interactive online presentations to people and groups in MIssissauga and beyond. These year-round online workshops are now very well attended by people all over North America and have increased public engagement in all of our programs as well as those of our partner organizations. We improved our website, increased newsletter frequency and expanded our social media presence to compensate for the reduction of our in-person outreach plans during the Covid pandemic. In our first three years we gained 1,500 newsletter subscribers and a membership of over 230.
We engage the community's active participation in pollinator conservation by providing Mississauga residents with hands-on learning through garden stewardship and other volunteer opportunities. Our projects involve the design, construction, and planting of accessible neighbourhood wildflower gardens rich in food and nesting sites for native pollinators. The drought- and salt-tolerant, locally adapted plant species minimize demands on soil and water and emphasize harmony with local ecology. At the same time, the gardens beautify the neighbourhoods and provide bright spots for passersby. Our garden stewards' pollinator gardens link Mississauga’s expanding number of native plant habitat patches, increasing areas that support native pollinator biodiversity and resilience to climate change.
Our outreach extends to neighbourhoods throughout Mississauga, involving individuals and their families, members of local clubs, community organizations, and neighbourhood ratepayers associations. Community residents who are interested in gardening sustainably, enhancing biodiversity, and promoting a sense of community wellbeing, beauty and pride become active participants. Blooming Boulevards’ pollinator garden network also serves the municipality as a model initiative in support of the City’s Living Green Master Plan, particularly the Connect and the Green pillars. It supports the Green Infrastructure aspect of the City’s new Climate Change Action Plan and reinforces Mississauga’s status as a Bee City.
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
1. SUPPORT
GOALS:
1.1 Support Mississauga’s Living Green Master Plan, Climate Action Plan, Natural Heritage and Urban Forest Strategy, and other municipal, provincial, and national conservation initiatives that help to mitigate the impact of climate change and loss in species diversity. 1.2 Support ecological biodiversity and resilience.
1.3 Support neighbourhood groups and local residents in planning, installing, maintaining, and promoting native habitat gardens. 1.4 Support community connections to nature, thereby fostering physical, emotional, and mental health.
ACTIONS:
• Support community initiatives that foster increased native plant production and habitat creation.
• Support propagators growing seedlings on their own premises.
• Facilitate plantings in conspicuous community spaces and non-residential sites throughout the City, as well as individual boulevards.
• Expand our capacity to assist property owners with native habitat gardens in locations such as yards, balconies, and rooftops.
• Network with other community organizations to support native habitat gardens in other spaces.
2. SUSTAIN
GOALS:
2.1 Sustain sound management of finances to achieve our Mission, Strategic Plan, and other organizational needs.
2.2 Align revenue with our Strategic Plan’s goals, actions, and deliverables.
2.3 Maintain sound human resources management, including volunteers, at all levels within our organization.
ACTIONS:
• Attain registered charity status in Ontario.
• Solicit funding from all levels of government and from corporate/private entities.
• Review membership fees annually.
• Conduct a minimum of nine Board of Directors meetings annually, including the Annual Members Meeting. • Review the financial status of Blooming Boulevards at each Board of Directors meeting.
• Maintain accurate governance and financial records.
• Ensure that Board members adhere to the Charter, Code of Conduct, and Privacy Policy. • Conduct a quarterly review of progress toward the Goals of the Strategic Plan.
• Develop a Board of Directors’ succession plan to enable smooth transition.
• Engage in a strategic planning process every three years.
3. CONNECT
GOALS:
3.1 Continue engaging with our network of members through activities that align with our mission.
3.2 Expand our reach through public relations, social media, webinars, and in-person events.
3.3 Grow our multi-level connections with government, organizations, charities, and businesses.
3.4 Recruit volunteers and staff.
ACTIONS:
• Continue creating engaging and fresh webinars, online content, and community events.
• Provide incentives for new member recruitment and volunteer recognition.
• Maintain a communications plan for media outreach and online content creation. • Collaborate with community organizations in areas of mutual interest.
• Create and distribute educational information about native plants and habitat communities that foster pollinating insects.
4. GROW
GOALS:
4.1 Ensure the long-term growth of Blooming Boulevards.
4.2 Grow administrative operations to meet the dynamic needs of the organization, our funders, and our members.
4.3 Develop multi-level sources of support for Blooming Boulevards.
ACTIONS:
• Conduct a community greenhouse feasibility study.
• Move forward with the results of the community greenhouse feasibility study.
• Establish a fundraising committee.
• Engage a fundraising consultant.
• Engage services as required: accountant, videographer, project manager, office manager.
• Establish a human resources management plan.
• Extend our connections with academic institutions.
• Define roles for President/Chair of the Board, and Executive Director.
• Engage an Executive Director.
• Engage an Education Program Manager.
• Engage a Volunteer and Community Engagement Coordinator.
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