Our Vision in Action: 2025-28 Strategic Plan

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Buffalo String Works embarked on a process to develop a strategic plan in January 2025. In true BSW fashion, it began with hearing from our community. We spoke with students, families, teachers, staff, board members, partners, and supporters about what makes BSW special and where there might be opportunities or challenges ahead. Over four months, a small working group of staff, teachers, and board members refined that feedback to create a clear roadmap to guide our work over the next three years. We are thrilled to share the final product, which was adopted by our Board of Directors in June.

Mission: To ignite community and youth leadership through inclusive music education

Vision: Neighborhoods United by Empowered Young Musicians 

Goals & Objectives: 

Expand and strengthen the Niagara Street program experience

As an El Sistema-inspired organization, BSW has never just been a place to learn an instrument. Music is a vehicle for nurturing and developing resilient and confident young people. We have done this in many ways throughout the years, but this plan will double down on strengthening the supportive services that ensure that student musicians have what they need to thrive. We also want to ensure that we are leveraging every dollar to serve as many students as possible, without compromising the quality of instruction or support. We will do this in the following ways:

  • Increase and diversify enrollment in the Niagara Street program

  • Redesign and expand the student leadership program

  • Establish a student support team for the social/emotional needs of students

  • Update the core curriculum with a lens on cultural relevance, simplification, accountability for excellence, and consistent pedagogy

  • Research and make recommendations for expanding instruction into additional instruments 

Design and launch a refocused community outreach strategy 

The BSW community is diverse, serving many of Buffalo’s historically marginalized youth in the community. Caring for one another means reaching into parts of the community with little or no access to music and showing up in both musical and non-musical spaces to advocate and uplift. Given this, we want to reimagine BSW’s relationship with the outside world and will do so in the following ways:

  • Build an intentional outreach strategy that places BSW in closer community with wider Buffalo 

  • Research the viability of satellite locations that model the Niagara Street experience in community centers 

  • Implement a sustainable expansion plan for adult music education 

  • Establish and communicate clear criteria and boundaries for any future program partnerships 

Reduce barriers to student and family engagement 

Over the years, we have learned there are fundamental challenges that are inherent in this work and in many cases, these issues are systemic, making them very difficult to address. To better serve the community, we want to take steps toward mitigating some of these challenges in the next three years, and will do so in the following ways:

  • Create more touchpoints for teaching artists to interact with parents and families 

  • Design innovative solutions to reduce student transportation challenges 

  • Expand language access services for families 

  • Diversify and educate staff to better welcome our student populations 

Invest in the growth, development and wellbeing of our staff and board 

It has been several years of change and evolution for our staff, faculty, and board of directors. At all levels, the team has had to stretch their capacity and abilities a great deal. To top it off, the recent federal funding cuts and attacks on immigrants have led to discouragement and a risk of burnout. BSW prioritizes the humanity of people. Our care for one another is the defining characteristic that has made many care so deeply about this work. This plan places the well-being of our team front and center by focusing on the following:

  • Grow board size and strategically recruit to expand BSW networks and connections

  • Provide governance and development training to increase the board’s confidence in fundraising and ambassadorship

  • Expand investments in staff and teacher professional development and career planning 

  • Identify opportunities to revise compensation, benefits, and HR policies for the increased wellbeing of our staff and teachers 

  • Provide additional resources, supplies, equipment, and support for teachers and staff 

  • Increase communication and collaboration opportunities among board, staff and teachers 

Increase BSW’s long-term financial and organizational strength 

BSW needs a new approach to resourcing and a renewed investment in infrastructure. Our organization has flourished since its founding, thanks to strong leadership and a favorable funding environment. However, leadership transitions come with certain challenges and the current funding context remains changing. BSW is experimenting with new strategies and doubling down on the things that have brought success in the past by doing the following:

  • Cultivate and expand individual and major gifts 

  • Widely share planned gift opportunities to grow endowment and other special funds 

  • Explore earned revenue and paid program partnerships to diversify revenue 

  • Build innovative new foundation partnerships around joint arts and health and human services issues 

  • Conduct a space needs study and determine BSW’s long-term facility goals