Mission 2 Impact

Through M2I, Congreso will implement our theory of change – that providing integrated quality programming in the areas of education, workforce development, housing, health, and parenting will enable youth and their families to achieve economic self-sufficiency and well-being.

Mission 2 Impact (M2I) calls out the key elements of the work that lies ahead – staying true to our mission and maximizing our impact.

Following the 4- day theory of change retreat back in January of 2018, Congreso is now in a planning and design phase to drive our mission forward and continue improving our agency wide systems and processes.

Congreso’s vision is to facilitate generations of positive outcomes by developing lifelong partnerships with individuals and families starting from the womb through the achievement of economic self-sufficiency and well-being, celebrating all of the milestones along the way.

To learn more about Congreso’s Mission 2 Impact, please reach out to Jamie Hughes, Vice President of Programmatic Development at hughesj@congreso.net.

Why M2I?

  • Pursuit of Long-Term Outcomes of Economic Self-Sufficiency and Well-Being 
  • Increase Client Overlap across Multiple Services 
  • Connection with children and families at Pan American Academy  
  • Mission Focus and Aligned Priorities 
  • Commitment to innovation and continuous learning 
  • Cohesive Data Management Strategy 
  • Sustainable, Less-Restrictive Funding Model 
  • Maximize Administrative Systems 

M2I Program Design Frameworks

Human-Centered Design (HCD) with Congreso’s Homegrown Design Toolkit  

  • Identify clients’ needs and design new programmatic approaches.  
  • Design products and services from the perspective of the end-user.  
  • “Design Labs” –  intentional space for staff to think creatively and design client- and staff-informed programs.  
  • Assess programs, identify needs, and design innovative complements and enhancements.   
  • Example: Create “client journey maps” that identify “pain points,” or areas where clients often fail or drop out. Identify when to offer extra support and inform programmatic changes for equity and success. 

Lean Experimentation for Rapidly Testing new Service Design and Implementation 

  • Rapidly tests innovations to quickly improve operations and increase impact.  
  • Experimentation based on value, impact and scalability metrics. 
  • Test hypotheses that impact social and economic mobility to make programs more client-centered.  
  • Lean Methodology studied and adopted by Congreso Leadership team. Agency works with Lean consultant who supports hypothesis testing.   
  • While historically practiced in the private sector, this type of framework is relatively new to non-profit sector 

Without growth, we are stagnant and the catalyst for growth is creative problem solving. We serve a community that is has so much cultural beauty ,so much resiliency, and unfortunately many barriers that prevent it from reaching it full potential. I believe in change, I believe in the power of change. I’m proud to serve a community by working towards change to together, and that is what we call innovation.  M2I is the roadmap of how we feel we can help the community we serve to self-actualize and have lasting positive generational change. Innovation is the vehicle to help us get there.  So at Congreso we must embody innovation and that’s becoming the Congreso way.”Raven Rivera, Congreso’s Innovation Manager