Land Trust Alliance Strategic Plan

This is an exciting moment for the Land Trust Alliance, one that comes around only once every decade. We are developing a new strategic plan to guide the Alliance and the land conservation community into the future. Although the process officially kicked off at Rally 2025 in Cleveland, it builds on the momentum and input gathered during our 2024 CEO search and the conversations that followed.

Because great ideas come from across our community, we will invite Alliance staff and board members, land trust and affiliate members, partners, funders, stalwart defenders — and even our most candid critics — to help us shape this plan. Broad stakeholder engagement is taking place in early 2026.

The planning process will unfold in four phases, culminating in the launch of the new plan at Rally 2026 in Denver. We’ll keep our stakeholders informed through regular updates and opportunities for engagement along the way.

• Establishing a baseline

  Sept.-Dec. 2025

  This foundational phase focuses on gathering and analyzing information to establish a shared understanding of the Alliance’s current context — organizationally, programmatically and within the broader land conservation sector.

• Developing our vision, mission and key priorities

  Jan.-March 2026

  Building on the baseline, this phase will surface the Alliance’s shared aspirations for the next decade — clarifying what success looks like, refining the mission and vision statements and identifying the key priorities to focus collective effort. This is when broad stakeholder engagement will occur through listening sessions, surveys and targeted consultations.

• Devising strategic actions to deliver this vision

  April - June 2026

  In this phase, the team will translate the vision and priorities into clear strategies, goals and objectives. Work will also begin on the implementation roadmap and measurement and adaptation framework to ensure accountability and continuous learning.

• Drafting a flexible implementation plan

  July-Sept. 2026

  The final phase will synthesize all inputs into a 10-year strategic framework — anchored by adaptable three-year and annual plans that can evolve as circumstances change. The new plan will be unveiled at Rally 2026 in Denver.