|
Task Force, asked to step back from the day-to-day and think strategically and thoughtfully about the sector AAC serves and the role we play within it. The questions in front of them have not been easy ones. They’ve asked themselves difficult questions. What does Ontario's agri-food sector need right now? What does the agri-food sector face now and into the future? Where can AAC add the most value? What might we need to do differently, and what should stay the same? These are the kinds of questions that are easy to defer and hard to genuinely engage with, and the Task Force chose to engage with them head on.
What has struck me, watching this process unfold, is the willingness around the table to think beyond familiar ground. Members of the Task Force brought their own perspectives and experience, but also a real openness to others’ views, helping to challenge their own thinking, and at the same time, finding common ground rather than defending their own positions. That is not always how strategic conversations go, and it speaks to the calibre of people who serve this organization.
The work is not finished. There is more strategic thinking, more questioning and more conversations with members and AAC stakeholders ahead before anything is ready to be shared more broadly. But the foundation being built, through honest dialogue and a willingness to ask the difficult questions, and this is exactly the type of foundation a strong next chapter requires to be built upon.
I am grateful to the members of the Strategic Task Force for the way they have approached this work, and I look forward to engaging many of you in the conversations still to come.
-Jenn
| 
