Strategic Plan Timeline

Driven by extensive community engagement since 2019, the first-ever Countywide Strategic Plan was adopted on October 5, 2021. Take a look back at the timeline for the development of the plan.

How We Got Here

  • Extensive in-person and digital engagement with residents, businesses, educational institutions, Boards, Authorities and Commissions, and county and school employees was conducted, to capture data about community expectations of county government, and to develop a foundation for outcomes, indicators, and preliminary strategies and metrics that could be included in the proposed Countywide Strategic Plan.
  • Input was collected through in-person meetings and a brief, high-level survey, and focused specifically on connecting with people and places who do not normally participate in strategic planning activities.
  • Working closely with a network of community partners to host targeted in-person sessions, meetings were held in a variety of languages and locations and included transportation and other support services for participants.
  • Initial community input was then used to directly shape the original nine community outcome areas and indicators of success, and all feedback data was shared with the Strategic Planning Teams once they were convened in March 2019.

  • Strategic Planning Teams were launched, representing employees with deep subject-matter expertise and longevity but also people who were new to the county and brought brand new perspectives. A Steering Committee and Core Team were also convened, to ensure that the Strategic Planning Teams were effectively guided and supported throughout the process, and members of the One Fairfax team were included at both the Steering Committee and Core Team levels, in addition to providing extensive guidance to each of the teams during their weekly meetings.
  • Teams defined major current and future challenges facing the county in their community outcome areas, identified and mapped key factors that influenced the desired outcomes, drafted strategies that were intended to make measurable progress, and identified sample metrics that were extensively researched to determine which data elements should be collected, as well as the most reliable sources and how each of the sample metrics could be disaggregated to highlight issues of inequity.
  • Existing plans were reviewed, an analysis of community input and additional targeted stakeholder engagement was conducted, and findings were used to make continuous updates to plan elements in real time.
  • Another set of in-person community conversations were held in addition to a second survey to specifically seek feedback on draft strategies and metrics, and input was incorporated into the final draft of the proposed strategic plan.

  • The final draft of the proposed plan was developed, with ongoing input from the Strategic Plan Steering Committee and Core Team.
  • An initial implementation framework was developed, with the expectation that the Board of Supervisors would formally adopt the proposed plan concurrent with the FY 2021 budget.

  • he final proposed plan was presented to the Board of Supervisors by County Executive Bryan Hill in February 2020.
  • In March 2020, the Board of Supervisors made the decision to officially pause the public process on the plan due to COVID. This enabled the county to focus on the emergency health response; launch a hybrid workforce, to ensure continuity of operations while greatly expanding the use of telework; and focus on the economic recovery through supporting workers and businesses negatively impacted by the pandemic.
  • Additional feedback from the Steering Committee, department directors, original Strategic Planning Teams and One Fairfax was collected throughout the public pause, some of which was integrated in the revised draft and some of which will be utilized during plan implementation.
  • Countywide Strategic Plan and Countywide Data Analytics staff met with each member of the Board of Supervisors to seek feedback on the plan and to introduce an emerging approach to the way the county collects, uses and shares data.

  • The revised proposed Countywide Strategic Plan, updated to reflect the broad impacts of COVID and necessary adjustments due to the passage of time, was presented by County Executive Bryan Hill to the Board of Supervisors in February 2021. The first post-COVID survey was launched, to determine how community priorities may have shifted due to the pandemic.
  • Countywide Strategic Plan staff actively supported the work of related emerging countywide initiatives, including the Chairman’s Taskforce on Equity and Opportunity and the COVID Economic Recovery Framework, both of which validated many of the same elements in the proposed Countywide Strategic Plan. Staff also actively coordinated with additional countywide initiatives and strategic planning processes that were emerging in individual departments.

Community outreach and engagement continued in earnest, including the following:

  • Development of a public information video to update community members on the plan’s goals, background, timeline and process (available in English and Spanish).
  • Health and Environment, which had originally been combined into a single Community Outcome Area, were split into two separate ones. Community input supported this change as it ensured an adequate focus on each area. 
  • Development of a short, impactful video to share the original Nine (now Ten) Community Outcome Areas (translated into Spanish and Vietnamese) and highlighting One Fairfax. 
  • In partnership with the Office of Public Affairs, development of multiple community messages shared via podcasts, social media posts, press releases, messages to employees, email blasts, etc.
  • Launch of fourth survey to continue to seek feedback about the elements of the plan that most resonated with the community. Survey was adapted to respond to critiques about earlier surveys, specifically that they were too long and difficult for the average resident to understand and respond to.
  • A series of community meetings was produced and delivered by Countywide Strategic Plan staff, including presentations to a wide variety of Boards, Authorities and Commissions, specific supervisory districts, county departments, and open sessions for residents and employees. Feedback themes were used to update the final Countywide Strategic Plan, and will be used on an ongoing basis as the county moves forward to implement the plan.
  • The County Executive, the Chief Financial Officer and Countywide Strategic Plan staff met with each member of the Board of Supervisors to respond to questions and seek final feedback prior to Board adoption.

The Board of Supervisors adopted the proposed Countywide Strategic Plan, specifically the Ten Community Outcomes, Indicators of Success and Proposed Strategies. These elements support the goals of the plan, which are to:

  1. Set a community vision for the next 10-20 years
  2. Align and integrate existing and emerging countywide work
  3. Provide a tool to focus and prioritize shorter-term countywide initiatives
  4. Communicate progress on achieving measurable outcomes on behalf of the community

The County Executive Leadership Team will oversee the first set of action items, which will be actively pursued over the next year. These include the following:

  1. Identifying key countywide initiatives that will be crosswalked with the Countywide Strategic Plan (examples include the Chairman’s Taskforce on Equity and Opportunity, the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Framework, the Community-wide Energy and Climate Action Plan, the Shaping the Future of Aging Plan, and the work of the Successful Children and Youth Policy Team)
  2. Staff will identify a set of Headline Metrics, which will be a subset of the Sample Metrics included in Appendix C and aligned with One Fairfax

Plans and Initiatives Consulted

A wide variety of county planning documents were consulted to ensure that the Countywide Strategic Plan complemented existing plans. Additional plans will continue to be crosswalked to ensure broad alignment.

Learn More

(return to Countywide Strategic Plan)

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