La Jicarita Enterprise Community, in the ninth year of the ten year federal designation, continues to adopt and implement a diversification of ideas and concepts in a well balanced social and economic development program that is being planned from the bottom up and the inside out by residents of the five census tracts. Individual rural communities, while reevaluating their place in today’s market economy, continue to evolve through systemic change and realize the benefit to collaborations and regional area planning. As a recognized socio-economic development organization, La Jicarita Enterprise Community continues to facilitate systemic change, building human and organizational capacity in this region of New Mexico, regarding development that improves the quality of life for all residents of the designated area, thus maintaining this organizations core value of una vida buena y sana para todos, a health and wholesome life for everyone.

In April and July of 2003, La Jicarita’s Staff and Board of Directors held retreats that were facilitated and with the assistance of Mosaica: The Center for Nonprofit Development and Pluralism, a multicultural nonprofit consulting organization located in Washington, D.C., for the purpose of developing an strategic plan for the continuation of La Jicarita Enterprise Community’s revised mission statement. The outcome of those retreats was the development of “La Jicarita Enterprise Community Summary Strategic Plan: July 2003 – June 2008”. The Summary Strategic Plan provides organizational values, La Jicarita Enterprise Community’s revised mission statement, a vision for the community, an organizational vision, service area expansion, key projected accomplishments, strategic to reach them, a plan for institutional support required for implementation of the plan including governance and resource development, and responsibilities for monitoring the plan.

La Jicarita Enterprise Community’s revised mission statement is, “La Jicarita Enterprise Community believes in una vida buena y sana, by creating positive change and self-sufficiency to enhance the quality of life for the community members of Mora, Rio Arriba, and Taos Counties”, and its “Organizational Values”, states, “The following core values guide the work of La Jicarita Enterprise Community:”
· Commitment to Community: We believe in una comunidad buena y sana.
· Capacity Building: Building human and organizational capacity.
· Partnerships: To create unity and a sense of common purpose.
· Amino (soul, spirit, courage, and innovation): We lead by example.
· Empowerment: Self-sufficiency for individuals and communities.
· Integrity and Accountability: We hold ourselves to the highest standards of honesty, honor, and integrity.

The created Summary Strategic Plan developed, “A Vision for La Jicarita’s Communities”, which states:
· A fair share of economic wealth, productive employment and business opportunities exist for all people.
· Communities are successful, with high-quality water and a decline in drug use, domestic violence, and serious illnesses.
· People and their local areas are both self-sufficient and are better prepared to communicate with the broader society.
· Community members are educated and empowered with both the self-esteem and the critical thinking skills needed to make sound decisions.
· Multiple innovative initiatives are in progress, sponsored by La Jicarita end other organizations, public and private.
· La Jicarita is well established as an enduring helping hand.

La Jicarita Enterprise Community’s developed “Organizational Vision for La Jicarita Enterprise Community” states: “La Jicarita Enterprise Community will provide community development in three counties, Mora, Rio Arriba, and Taos, with focus on particular populations such as youth and people who need jobs. In its efforts to promote community development La Jicarita will:”
· Have networks and collaborations that reach beyond the tree counties, connecting to similar efforts in other communities to bring the benefits of these initiatives to the communities it serves.
· Offer staffed on-stop community development and information centers with collaborative partners, where critical information and services are available, with at least one location in each county.
· Be a visible and effective community and economic development entity, creating the opportunity for people to make choices, acting as a helping hand in areas of established and innovative economic practices, appropriate technology (e.g., telemedicine, distance learning), health, education, and overall community development.
· Provide information back to the communities serviced about La Jicarita’s past, present, and future activities, on an ongoing basis.
· Be innovative, developing and testing model programs in a single community, then expanding them once the models have been tested, documented and refined.

As a federally designated Enterprise Community under the Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Community Initiative, La Jicarita Enterprise Community has focused its services on specific census tracts with Mora, Rio Arriba and Taos counties. These rural areas included Penasco, Mora and Tramps. Because La Jicarita Enterprise Community has been working with county officials, its work has benefited other parts of these counties as well. However, it has worked primarily in these designated rural sections of the three counties.

As a part of its planning and decision-making process, the Board of Directors of La Jicarita Enterprise Community has agreed that the organization’s service area will be expanded to include the entire three county area, including both rural and urban communities.

By mid-2008, La Jicarita Enterprise Community plans to have successfully accomplished the following four major goals:
1. La Jicarita will have one-stop community development and information centers in each of the three counties it serves.
2. La Jicarita will have an expanded education component that has demonstrated its capacity to decrease the dropout rate and youth drug use and to increase test scores, high school graduation, and entry into and graduation from post-secondary education.
3. La Jicarita Enterprise Community will be a community development corporation with a full-time Economic Development Coordinator. It will have initiated a least three economic development initiatives and “spun-off” at least two.
4. La Jicarita will be self-sustaining.

La Jicarita Enterprise Community expects to focus on the goals and projected accomplishments stated in its Summary Strategic Plan and will involve focus on the major strategies and types of activities identified as:
· Education
· Economic Development and
· Business Support

As determined at the retreats, successful implementation of the five –year plan requires the active involvement of all members of the La Jicarita Enterprise Community Board of Directors and staff. Following are the major institutional support strategies and responsibilities agreed upon by the Board and senior staff:
· Staff Implementation Work Plans – Staff have primary responsibility for preparing work plans for implementation of the strategic plan. Senior staff will:
1. Determine the budgetary and personnel requirements for strategic plan implementation.
2. Prepare an annual work plan each year, to guide implementation of the strategic plan.
3. Monitor strategic plan progress.

· Governance - The Board of Directors will provide guidance, oversight and active involvement in organizational advocacy and resource development in order to ensure that proposed accomplishments are realized. Major Strategies and commitments include the following:
1. The Board will maintain active committees.
2. Committees will meet regularly and make recommendations to the full Board about issues within their jurisdictions.
3. The Board will review and update its bylaws.
4. The Board, under the leadership of the Executive Committee, will review progress on the strategic plan and refine the plan as necessary.

The Board of Directors as a whole will become actively involved in fundraising, to replace the core funding that will end when the Enterprise Community designation ends on December 31, 2004, help ensure funds to meet other goals, and ensure organizational sustainability. The Sustainability/Fundraising Committee will play a coordinating role in Board resource development efforts, but all Board members will participate.

In 2003 La Jicarita Enterprise Community experienced the leaving of its second Chief Administrative Officer, Mr. John Martinez since the establishment of La Jicarita Enterprise Community. With apprehension, La Jicarita Enterprise Community accepted the resignation of Mr. Martinez and wishes him well in the expansion of the professional career as a highly qualified and respected administrator.

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