Case Study: Using Futures Thinking to Support Strategic Visioning with the Just Power Alliance
Client/Project Overview
The Just Power Alliance (JPA), a coalition dedicated to creating policies and systems that work for everyone, invited Point A Studio to facilitate a Futures Thinking workshop as part of their strategic planning process. The workshop was initiated by JPA’s new Executive Director, Jennifer Choi, who immediately saw the value of building futures literacy across the team. The session was designed to deepen strategic insight and collective vision through the lens of uncertainty, foresight, and systemic transformation.
Objectives
The workshop aimed to help participants:
Explore how the current VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) environment influences their work.
Strengthen futures literacy as a foundational skill for strategic leadership.
Use the Futures Triangle to surface challenges, identify opportunities, and inform JPA’s long-term strategic vision.
Methodology
The session was grounded in foundational futures thinking practices and participatory dialogue. Key methods included:
VUCA Framing: Participants reflected on how volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity impact their day-to-day work and decision-making environments.
Futures Triangle Mapping: This tool was used to examine the forces of change, revealing the “pulls of the future,” “pushes of the present,” and “weights of the past” influencing JPA’s trajectory.
Collective Sensemaking: Through open discussion and group reflection, participants synthesized their insights to identify key strategic tensions and future possibilities.
Key Activities/Process
Setting the Stage: The session began with an introduction to core futures thinking concepts, including VUCA and the purpose of foresight in social change work.
Futures Triangle Workshop: In small groups, participants identified and mapped critical drivers, barriers, and emerging trends that affect their mission.
Strategic Reflection: Groups shared back and engaged in cross-team sensemaking, highlighting emerging themes and ideas for how these insights could inform JPA’s evolving strategic framework.
Key Insights
The Future is a Collective Effort: Participants emphasized that no single individual can envision the future alone. Shared imagination and dialogue are essential tools for systemic change.
Foresight Builds Adaptive Capacity: Rather than predicting outcomes, foresight helped the team prepare for uncertainty, increasing their readiness to lead through complexity.
Time-Spanning Vision is Essential: The Futures Triangle enabled the team to honor the past, acknowledge the present, and envision powerful shifts toward a more equitable future.
Impact/Reflection
This workshop marked a key moment in JPA’s evolution, affirming their commitment to future-oriented leadership and equity-driven systems change. By exploring futures thinking as a strategy for action—not prediction—JPA expanded its toolkit for collective transformation. The insights generated will inform their strategic planning process and help shape a bold, justice-centered path forward.
Call to Action
Curious how futures thinking can support your organization’s strategic vision? Contact us to co-create an immersive workshop and explore the futures of justice, equity, and transformation—together.