Forum One’s clients and partners are inspiring us with their 2021 impact-related goals for themselves and their communities. What’s at the top of your new year’s resolutions list? 

As the world longed for 2020 to end, here we are now in 2021 looking ahead with hope. At Forum One, we are feeling rejuvenated after the holiday season and ready to create impact in our clients’ communities around the world in addition to creating time and space to find the right balance in work, life, and the rest of it.

We reached out to a number of our clients over the holiday break to hear what their new year’s resolutions were, and we’re excited to share some of them with you here.

Getting out of crisis mode

“My New Year’s resolution is to help my team stay out of crisis mode, so we can be more strategic and creative in all that we do. We spent so much of 2020 reacting to everything being thrown at us, I’d love this year to feel more proactive rather than reactive.”

~ Rachel Roberts, Senior Director, Channel Deployment, Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE)

“Being kind to myself, making sure my needs don’t get lost in the shuffle.”

~ NYU Langone Health

Pushing through roadblocks

“I don’t usually make New Year’s Resolutions, though I am prompted to think about the resolutions I do make, daily. In my work, I aim to deliver vision and value continuously for organizations, for employees, and for the public. This causes me to resolve to push through roadblocks; to refocus when too many moving parts threaten to jiggle loose; and, to do the most broadly impactful work. In all of this, the least common denominator is simply to be thoughtful. So, this day, this week, and this New Year—I resolve to spend the necessary time thinking and reflecting on the conversations I’ve had and things I’ve learned, to plan and course correct deliberately, and to push forward with intention and purpose.” 

~ Robyn Rees, Senior Advisor for Human Capital Transformation, Department of the Interior, Office of Human Capital

Enjoying the good things in life

“I’m going to make my way through all of DC’s Neighborhood Heritage Trails. I like being a tourist in my own city—especially when it’s a safe and fun way to get me out in COVID times!”

~ Lisa Barton, Client Services Manager, Training Resources Group

“Realizing that chocolate is not one of the five basic food groups.”

~ Lorie Geryk, WA-APCD Program Manager, Washington State Health Care Authority

“Less binge-watching of Netflix (and Hulu, and Amazon Prime, and HBO Max), more reading books. And more specifically, reading books by people of color and women or non-binary authors.”

~ Lindsay Garber, Strategic Dissemination Team Leader, County Health Rankings & Roadmaps

“Master several bossa nova songs on acoustic guitar.”

~ Adin Miller, Executive Director, Los Altos Community Foundation

“Read as many books as I possibly can and get fit!”

~ Woodbury University

Being realistic, being optimistic

“Keep. It. Simple.”

~ Sean Gibbons, CEO, The Communications Network

“Focusing on what is and not on what has been lost (or forever changed)!”

~ Anthony Mitchell, Senior Director, Corporate Relations, Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE)

Sharing local voices and stories of impact

“To widen the global audiences of our organization’s work by launching additional country-specific subdomains in languages other than English—highlighting the work done by country teams and serving their local audiences is what we’re striving to achieve.”

~ Paul Bock, Director of Digital Development, Mercy Corps

Finding ways to better connect teams virtually

“I liked to think of ways to better utilize technology to connect a workforce that will most likely be working remotely and in the office.”

~ Marc Hutzell, Appalachian Regional Commission

2021 will certainly have its own new challenges, but we’re ready to take them on together. On behalf of the Forum One team, I wish you all a heartfelt 2021 full of hope, good health, and happiness. And I look forward to watching your new year’s resolutions become reality!