As part of the assessment process, board members, many of whom had served the organization
for two decades, were asked to re-trace the history of the organization. “It was important for us to acknowledge the legacy of the organization in this process,” notes Ms. Johnson. At the same
time, the board was engaged in thinking about what had changed in the external political environment that had “blunted the edge” of SRC’s program work. “The board was able to acknowledge the shift and loss of SRC’s edge and point to the reasons for that change, yet at the same time they could see the aspects of our work that were still singular to us and important to work against racism and inequality. They helped us identify the ‘core competencies’ of SRC and what needed to change in order to enable SRC to make full use of these assets.