Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Government Relations Team Retreat
Winter 2024
BACKGROUND
Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s Government Relations Team, led by Karen Stone, is situated in the organization’s Policy, Campaigns, and Advocacy (PCA) division. The 24-person team executes the strategic direction of the federation’s legislative affairs, leads global advocacy, and works to develop federal and state policy. Karen, along with the retreat planning committee, wanted to bring the team together for the first time in nearly 18 months.
THE CHALLENGE
Following a restructuring process mid-way through 2023, the Government Relations team was finding its way forward. The retreat planning committee wanted to bring the team together for an experience that centered fun alongside deeper learning about one another.
In advance of the retreat, each member of the team took the Prism Personality Assessment and engaged in a 1:1 coaching session with us to debrief their results. The Prism Portrait is a dynamic, layered, interpretive report that summarizes an individual’s traits, attitudes, and characteristics. Our coaching sessions provided us an opportunity to both dig deeper into the results with each member of the team, and to connect individually prior to working together in person.
OUR APPROACH
Our overarching goal for both the PPFA GR Team Retreat days was to use Prism as a tool for self awareness, and to build the emotional, relational, and team intelligence of the group. Our objectives for the retreat were to:
Foster Team Unity: Engage in intentional team-building exercises to cultivate a strong sense of camaraderie and collaboration within the group.
Facilitate Personal and Professional Connections: Engage in dedicated time and space for team members to build both personal and professional relationships, fostering a deeper understanding of each other.
Engage in Strategic Mid to Long-Term Thinking: Discuss scenario planning and delve into thoughtful consideration around how we'll work together in the upcoming year, promoting a strategic mindset within the team.
Following our two retreat days, we delivered a set of comprehensive recommendations to the GR Team’s leader with immediate feedback, as well as near term and longer term strategies suggested for how to maintain time and focus on the team’s functioning and well being.
“It was great having our retreat be guided by Women’s Brain Trust and the Prism. I think it allowed team members to think deeply about themselves, how they work, and how they show up.”
“WBT were incredible at agenda development and facilitation for our team retreat, creating a space where we could challenge ourselves to connect and be more vulnerable than we are in our day-to-day. I am confident that our team will be leaving this time stronger and more empathetic.”
“You both fostered a very open and calm environment and I think prism was a great tool to use to facilitate the conversations and exercises we did.”