Potrero Group partnered with Sempervirens Fund, California’s oldest land trust, to develop a comprehensive six-year strategic plan that would position the 125-year-old organization for the next century of conservation work. As redwood forests face unprecedented threats from climate change, development pressure, and habitat fragmentation, Sempervirens needed to continue evolving beyond a traditional land-acquisition model toward a more stewardship-focused, active land management approach—all while maintaining its conservation legacy.
Through an intensive nine-month process, Potrero Group helped the organization craft "Redwoods Forward," a strategic plan that establishes four core strategies to protect and restore forests, connect people to nature, and advance support for conservation, as well as set ambitious goals including protecting 7,000+ acres, restoring 3,000+ acres, and securing over $10 billion in regional conservation funding by 2030.
Our Approach
- Deep stakeholder engagement across three phases, including staff and board retreats, task force meetings, interviews with 8-10 key stakeholders, and comparative research on 3-5 similar organizations
- Comprehensive environmental scan that analyzed existing research on threats facing redwood forests and broader conservation-sector trends, providing a shared baseline and grounding strategic discussions in current data and context.
- Collaborative visioning process that honored the organization's 125-year legacy while reimagining its role for the climate era, including a clearer and more proactive stance on forest management and restoration.
- Strategic positioning analysis that identified how Sempervirens could serve as a regional mobilizer and establish itself as a blueprint conservation model through innovation and partnership
- Phased decision making that moved from research and baseline assessment to strategic choices about focus areas and trade-offs, culminating in concrete goals, objectives, and success metrics
- Implementation planning that helped the organization prioritize objectives and think through tactics, metrics, resource considerations, and sequencing to translate strategy into action.
"[Testimonial…]"
—Sarah Barth, Executive Director, Sempervirens Fund
