WRDC Strategic Roadmap
and TAC Activation
A proposal for strategic planning, governance design, and ongoing partnership from SPARC Executive Development and Consulting.
The Opportunity Before the WRDC
The Western Rural Development Center is one of four Regional Rural Development Centers established under the Rural Development Act of 1972 and funded by USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). Since its transition to the University of Idaho in 2024, the WRDC is building a new institutional foundation — establishing governance structures, engaging stakeholders across 13 Western states and U.S. territories, and developing a strategic vision that aligns federal mandates with the region's rural development priorities.
This engagement addresses three interconnected needs: the formal establishment and operationalization of a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), the design of governance processes linking the TAC and Board of Directors (BOD), and the development of a 5–7 year strategic roadmap that meets the April 2027 NIFA deadline.
Underlying all three is a fourth need — building the WRDC's capacity to operate as a strategic organization on an ongoing basis, not only to produce a plan but to sustain the strategic discipline that makes the plan useful.
Strategy Is a Discipline, Not a Deliverable
A strategic plan document is necessary and valuable, but it is the byproduct of strategic thinking, not a substitute for it. The organizations that thrive over time are those that have internalized the practices of environmental scanning, stakeholder engagement, priority-setting, and resource alignment as ongoing institutional habits.
Our approach to this engagement reflects that principle across three dimensions:
Governance Design
We will design TAC bylaws, operational policies, meeting structures, succession protocols, and onboarding procedures. We will also design the formal relationship between the TAC and BOD — including a charter, process map, and engagement strategies for both virtual and face-to-face settings.
Our governance design will draw on comparative analysis of how the other three Regional Rural Development Centers structure their advisory bodies, adapted to the WRDC's specific context and capacity.
Strategic Facilitation
We will facilitate the strategic planning process through virtual engagement and a face-to-face meeting in Denver (October 2026). Our facilitation approach is stakeholder-centered and co-creative — the strategic priorities that emerge will belong to the WRDC and its stakeholders, not to SPARC.
We will provide the structure, the questions, the synthesis, and the strategic architecture. The Center's leadership, TAC, and BOD will provide the knowledge, the priorities, and the commitment.
Capacity Building
Beyond the immediate work products, we will design a repeatable annual Roadmap Update process that the WRDC can execute independently — an agile governance cycle that keeps the strategic plan responsive to changing rural development needs and aligned with NIFA requirements.
This process is the mechanism that transforms a plan into a practice.
Who We Bring to This Work
Dr. Mathew Johnson, Ph.D., PCC
Former Dean, Brown University. Fellow, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Director, Elective Carnegie Community Engagement Classifications (U.S. and International), leading a research cohort of 30+ global universities. Strategic Advisor to the Extension Foundation. Gallup Certified CliftonStrengths Executive Coach. 25+ years of strategic planning, governance facilitation, and organizational consulting for higher education, nonprofit, and government organizations.
View full profileDr. Shannon O'Neill, Ph.D., PCC
Former Dean, Brown University. AoEC Advanced Practitioner Diploma (Merit). Certified GallupStrengths Facilitator. 20+ years of senior leadership in higher education. Specialist in facilitation design, group process, and stakeholder engagement for complex multi-party initiatives. Executive coach to senior leaders in higher education and nonprofit organizations.
View full profileTwo Ways to Partner
We offer two engagement models. Both fully address the work products specified in the EXL Statement of Work. They differ in duration, depth, and the nature of the partnership.
Project Scope
Maps directly to the three phases in the EXL Statement of Work. SPARC facilitates the TAC activation, governance design, and strategic planning process through the April 2027 NIFA deadline.
Note: Travel costs for the Denver face-to-face meeting (October 2026) and any additional in-person sessions are covered by WRDC per the EXL Statement of Work and are not included above.
Strategic Partnership
Everything in Option A, plus ongoing strategic advising through the WRDC's first full operating cycle:
- Facilitation of the first annual Roadmap Update cycle
- Continued TAC governance support through the committee's first year
- Quarterly strategic advising sessions with WRDC leadership
- On-call consultation for emerging strategic questions
These figures represent our best estimate of the investment required to accomplish this work well. We recognize that the WRDC is operating within a defined federal budget, and we are open to a conversation about how to right-size the engagement to accomplish the most we can within the resources available. Our goal is a partnership that works for both parties and produces lasting value for the Center.
Milestones and Phases
Discovery and Preparation
Scoping conversations with WRDC leadership. Review of prior WRDC strategic documents, NIFA requirements, and stakeholder landscape. Pre-engagement survey to TAC and BOD members (recommended).
TAC Activation
Facilitate TAC bylaws, operational policies, meeting structures, succession planning, and onboarding protocols. Face-to-face TAC and BOD meeting in Denver (October). Deliver TAC & BOD charter and process map with virtual and F2F engagement strategies.
Validation
Facilitate virtual TAC and BOD meeting to review, discuss, and approve the proposed WRDC strategic plan. Synthesize feedback and revisions.
Final Submission
Support completion and submission of the strategic plan for the April 2027 NIFA deadline. WRDC staff lead drafting with SPARC providing strategic review and editorial support.
Strategic Partnership OPTION B ONLY
Quarterly advising sessions. Facilitation of first annual Roadmap Update. Continued TAC governance support and on-call strategic counsel through the WRDC's first full operating cycle.
The Executive Development Partner
for Purpose-Driven Organizations
SPARC Executive Development and Consulting is the executive development partner for leaders who carry the weight of an institution. We are doctoral-level practitioners and ICF PCC-credentialed coaches, formerly at the leadership level of research universities and national foundations, who work alongside presidents, provosts, deans, and foundation executives in sustained, confidential partnerships — building the capacity that outlasts our involvement.
SPARC serves higher education, nonprofit, foundation, and government organizations. We are the exclusive U.S. partner of the Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC), delivering triple-accredited coach education programs (ICF, EMCC, AC).
Where This Work Lives in Our Practice
The WRDC engagement sits at the intersection of several areas where SPARC has deep, active experience. We are not consultants who occasionally touch rural or land-grant contexts — this work is central to what we do.
The Extension Foundation
SPARC has served as a strategic partner to the Extension Foundation for three years, providing board development, organizational strategy and transformation consulting, executive coaching and leader development, and advisory board development. This engagement gives us direct working knowledge of the Extension system's governance structures, federal relationships, and institutional culture — context that transfers directly to the WRDC.
Rural and Community Development
Mathew serves as Strategic Advisor to the Green Mountain Economic Development Corporation (White River Junction, VT), working on economic strategy and community capacity building in rural Vermont. SPARC also partners with Vermont Adult Learning on organizational development and leader capacity. This is not adjacent work — rural institutional development is a core practice area.
Western Region Connections
SPARC has an active and growing presence in the Western region. We work with the University of Arizona on leadership development and executive coaching, and have recently begun a new engagement with Northern Arizona University. These relationships give us familiarity with the institutional landscape, stakeholder dynamics, and regional priorities that shape the WRDC's footprint.
Learn More About Our Work
We don't deliver a report and hand you the keys.
If something in this resonates, let's talk. This will be a conversation, not a sales pitch.
mathew@sparcinsights.com | shannon@sparcinsights.com | (518) 618-6963 | sparcinsights.com