Strategic Plan

1. Strategic Priority (Aligns with Vision Statement 2)

Address the threats to the historical records of women religious resulting from community closures, mergers, and changing demographics.

Engage with religious leaders, scholars, universities, diocesan archivists, and allied professionals in the conversation around the value of women religious archives and the necessity of future planning.

• Continue to build a partnership with Leadership Conference for Women Religious (LCWR) 
• Continue to engage allied professionals like Communicators for Women Religious (CWR)
• Continue outreach with Congregations of Major Superiors of Women Religious (CMSWR) and Catholic Research Resource Alliance (CRRA) 
• Follow up engagement with Society of American Archivists (SAA), International Union of Superiors General (UISG) and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)
• New engagement with American Catholic Historical Association (ACHA), Conference on the History of Women Religious (CHWR), Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM) and Resource Center for Religious Institute (RCRI)
• Explore engagement with Association of Catholic Diocesan Archivists (ACDA) and Catholic Men’s Religious archival communities.
• Assemble Canonical experts to provide trusted guidance

Based on the CARA Survey results offer resources and reference materials

• Educational resources, annual webinars, and website resources targeting archivists and religious leaders preparing archives for transition
• Archival Assistance Program includes Consultant List, Transitional Toolkits, and Pre-Conference Workshop
• Seeking collaborative grant funding to fulfill the above

2. Strategic Priority (Aligns with Vision Statement 1)

Provide and promote educational opportunities for a diverse membership.

Continue to develop the Mentoring Program

• Continuing the Mentoring Program by offering monthly Zoom meetings for Q&A sessions
• Identifying communities that are not currently members of ACWR, including international, men’s, and communities of color

Develop and curate educational content for ACWR members

• Create content that is unique to women religious archives
• Continue the webinar series of general archival topics, as well as those specific to women religious archives
• Enhance the listserv with monthly announcements about programs and webinars offered by outside organizations

3. Strategic Priority (Aligns with Vision Statement 1)

Engage and expand the ACWR membership

• Recruit new members to committee work 
• Create and deliver orientation materials to new membership 
• Provide resources for orienting archivists to religious archives and archival standards
• Identify communities unrepresented in ACWR and begin a membership campaign by sending ACWR brochure to their archivists
• Establish a Triennial Conference Award that recognizes the exemplary work of women religious archivists

4. Strategic Priority (Aligns with Vision Statement 3)

Encourage increased accessibility of women religious collections, particularly those connected to underrepresented and at-risk populations.

• Continue updating, improving, and promoting the ACWR Women Religious Resource Directory
• Highlight social justice collections and encourage “proactive archiving”
• Initiate and participate in conversations and programs surrounding records of Indigenous peoples, men and women of color, the poor and vulnerable, immigrants, and women