The Ask
The Challenge: Building Shared Strategic Understanding
Iron Traks was navigating several interconnected challenges:
- a shared passion for impact, but different views on what success should look like over the next few years
- limited clarity in how the organisation described “who we are and what we do” to funders, partners and the community
- a desire to move beyond ad-hoc donations toward more sustainable funding streams
- uncertainty about how to prioritise opportunities without over-stretching capacity
- Board members wanting clearer roles in delivering strategy, not just approving it.
The organisation needed a strategy that was clear, owned and actionable.
Our Approach: Insight-Driven Alignment
1) Co-design
We worked directly with the Iron Traks Board and Leadership to ensure the strategy was shaped with them, not for them. This created trust, openness and shared ownership from the outset.
2) Strategic framing
Through research, discovery, one-on-one interviews with Board members and a facilitated full-day Board workshop, we helped Iron Traks step back from day-to-day activity to clarify its impact, sharpen focus on who it serves and make deliberate strategic choices for sustainable growth.
3) Capability building
We focused on building the Board’s confidence and capability to make strategic decisions, understand funding and growth pathways, and actively lead the delivery of the strategy.
“What stood out most was the genuine partnership. From the first time we met with Cherie and Vanessa, we felt comfortable and supported. They explained everything clearly and in detail, took the time to truly listen, and created a safe, respected space for open conversation.
Cherie delivered an amazing, high engaging workshop that asked the hard questions and gave us real clarity and energy, leaving us with a strong, shared outlook on where we want to be in three years’ time. Working with CoLab Strategy felt less like a consultancy and more like a values-aligned partnership with lasting impact”
– Tracey Thompson, Co-founder, Iron Traks
What We Delivered?
- Short form Strategy including a Strategy on a Page articulating vision, mission, values, strategic pillars and enablers
- Scorecard of Success (balanced scorecard) detailing success metrics across 5 lenses – impact, financial, customers, internal processes and growth and development
- Three-year strategic roadmap, including a 12-month action plan and longer-term aspirations
- One-page program model (program logic / theory of change)
- Clear roles for Board members in delivering and monitoring the strategy
- Practical roadmap to support sustainable funding growth.
The Outcome: A Strong Foundation for Strategy
As a result of the engagement, Iron Traks achieved:
- a clear, shared understanding of the impact it is seeking to make
- greater confidence in communicating its purpose and value externally
- stronger Board alignment and ownership of the strategy
- a practical roadmap to guide decisions over the next three years
- increased readiness to pursue grants, partnerships and philanthropy in a more focused way
- Most importantly, the organisation moved forward with clarity, confidence and momentum.
“The engagement delivered real clarity, alignment, and direction for our organisation. It helped us step back from day-to-day operations, ask the right questions, and develop a shared understanding of where we are heading and why.
We came away with a clear outlook, stronger internal alignment, and practical priorities that feel achievable and grounded in our values. Importantly, it built confidence and momentum across the team, leaving us better equipped to make decisions and move forward with purpose.”
– Tracey Thompson, Co-founder, Iron Traks
Why This Work Mattered?
In general, girls and young women are not always provided with purpose, direction and opportunities to reach their full potential. In short, they can’t be what they can’t see. A lack of role models, mentors, positive community connection and a sense of self-efficacy can result in disengagement from education and employment, cascading into intergenerational poverty. These adverse outcomes result from gender inequality, lower socioeconomic backgrounds, family dynamics and/or domestic violence.
Using sports, coaching and mentoring as a vehicle, Iron Traks achieves significant impact in the lives of young women they work with – establishing the conditions for young women to feel safe, experience a greater sense of belonging and build the skills to identify their goals, navigate systems, advocate for themselves and actively lead their education and career journeys.
CoLab Strategy facilitated a process for the Iron Traks Board to gain greater clarity and alignment on how to scale their impact. To do this they needed to articulate and demonstrate their theory of change – the impact they create and a scalable service model to support it. Through the strategic planning process, Iron Traks was able to eliminate the noise and align around the key actions required to achieve their objectives. This meant eliminating some elements of their work and refining others.
Why This Matters for Organisations Like Yours?
How Can CoLab Strategy Help?
If your organisation is ready to clarify its impact, align its Board and build a strategy that people understand and own, CoLab Strategy can help. Book a free 30-minute strategy session to get clarity about your next steps.
Let’s Chat!
Reach out to CoLab Strategy today to discuss how we can help you grow your organisation for greater impact.