I believe in our purpose to make effective communication a worldwide reality and our mission to empower communicators and leaders.
What does this look and feel like?
W
Everyone loves our education system and actively participates in learning.
Last year we have moved to Basecamp 2.0, offering a significantly better user experience. Next we need to move to Pathways 2.0 with improved content, increased flexibility and reduced duplication. Including diverse members in shaping our program is crucial. Together, we can transform our education system into something we all love, want to be part of and want to share.
W
People from all backgrounds feel they belong and can succeed here.
Fairness is a fundamental principle. In every Toastmasters space, from club meetings to board meetings, speech contests to leadership elections. We must enable the best for everyone, regardless of background. It’s about fostering a culture of inclusivity, acting on diverse feedback, and ensuring our programs and practices empower us all. Together, we can create a welcoming and empowering environment for everyone.
W
Young people worldwide are excited by opportunities for learning, leadership and friendship.
Trends in associations like Toastmasters is that overall growth is happening where the share of younger people are growing overall. But our share of younger people is shrinking: Since 2019, under 35s have gone from 28% to 20% of our membership. We need to develop and prioritize strategies for turning this around. We can explore growing partnerships with youth organisations, offering employability focused programs and empowering young leaders through youth councils.
W
Experienced members flourish and at the heart of our shared success.
At the heart of our organization are experienced members who have benefitted from our program. So many of us give back by extending our reach and enabling brilliant member experiences. I would like to see greater opportunities for such members. We can do this through developing our advanced education program. And let’s create a version of the accredited speaker program that is relevant to, and achievable for, all experienced members.
W
We’re building and leading excellent clubs globally.
This one is about achieving the District mission everywhere. We have strategies in place to consolidate our Districts in the Americas in Regions 1-7. This will grow the pool of leaders and resources available to achieve success in each District. Over the coming years these Districts will need support in creating their own unique cultures and ways of achieving success. Each part of Regions 8-14 will need world class support to drive local strategies that are specific to local cultures and possibilities.
W
It’s easy to do business with us and get things done, wherever we are in the world.
This one is about operational excellence and continuing to improve our financial and logistical systems. Let’s enable corporates operating beyond the US to have easy ways to pay despite the unpredictability of foreign exchange rates and commissions, so they want to keep doing business with us. We can support Districts in having easy ways to operate so their energies can be focused on growing clubs and achieving excellence. This means equivalent customer service channels and levels wherever we are in the world. And for everyone to get merchandise at great rates, receiving shipments in good time.
W
We have a solid financial base, diverse revenue streams, and transformative plans for our future.
We learned in the Pandemic that for the sake of the security of the organization we need to diversify our revenue streams. This will mean we become not wholly reliant on a single membership revenue stream. In those challenging Pandemic years, our volume of Districts, Divisions and Areas remained the same. Yet our membership revenue fell, so our finances and resources are stretched more than before. Governments world wide have increasing tax and legal status expectations that need to be met proactively. We can increase our revenue sources such as through new ways of reaching people on learning channels on LinkedIn, offering new options to corporates, and exploring new membership options. This will help us stabilize, grow and invest in our future.
