Strategic planning

Five years ago, Fondation Olo set out its ambitions: reach more families, provide them with more resources, and support them longer throughout their children’s lives.

The 2018-2023 period was our third chapter and focused on rallying communities through community-based organizations and Indigenous communities. This chapter marked the extension of our postnatal actions and the introduction of a healthy eating education component.

While our first years were devoted exclusively to nutritional intervention with pregnant women, chapters 2 and 3 of our history represent 10 uninterrupted years of evolving activities and increasing impact.

The launch of the Discovery Kit and a first call for projects in 2019 marked the beginning of a new resource offering tailored to community-based organizations. Prior to that date, Fondation Olo reached women and families almost exclusively through the health and social services network (with the notable exception of Alima, formerly the Montreal Diet Dispensary). Today, Olo can proudly say it has built relationships with nearly 1,000 organizations that support families. These developments are intimately linked to actions carried out with professionals from the network, as demonstrated by the energy put into supporting linkages and the emerging role of connectors.

Pregnant women and families also benefited first hand from another novelty: the evolution of our food trio with the arrival of frozen vegetables. Orange juice is a thing of the past, but the timeless Olo acronym carries on. 

Our retrospective would not be complete without mentioning the pandemic that occurred right in the middle of this chapter. Put through its own challenges, Fondation Olo was able to adapt, innovate and do more by distributing a special voucher financed by an emergency campaign. Unfortunately, the pandemic led to social isolation, which created a significant drop in the number of women starting Olo Care. 

In line with its strategic plan, Fondation Olo kept its promise to evolve the relationship with its champions, as evidenced by the publication of 22 portraits of Olo practices as well as the launch of the Panorama platform and 22 personalized Mon Pano spaces. After more than 2 years of work and consultations, Fondation Olo delivered a new framework of reference entitled Olo Care during the first 1,000 days for champions, care providers and all those, mainly within the network, involved in Olo Care. 

In 2018, Fondation Olo slowly started to meet with Indigenous communities and governing bodies. The arrival of a colleague dedicated full-time to Indigenous communities in 2022 led to many more meetings taking place. The intention is not to adapt Olo Care. It is rather to let communities know that we are available to share resources, tools and knowledge, or to co-create projects that meet the specific needs of their communities using a culturally adapted support approach. 

During the 2018-2023 period, advocacy efforts were launched with the submission of a first brief to the Commission spéciale sur le droit des enfants et la protection de la jeunesse (Commission Laurent) and of 2 more as part of Quebec’s pre-budget consultations. A number of open letters were published, and media presence increased considerably, to ask for funding and raise awareness about Fondation Olo, its foundations and its impact. 

On the philanthropic front, Fondation Olo experienced growth in donations and exceeded the strategic plan’s 2018 ambitious target of $1.3 million in gross annual revenue from donations and fundraising activities. The target was first reached during the pandemic in the third year of the plan thanks to the emergency campaign. For the 2 subsequent fiscal years, the targeted revenues were again surpassed ($1.36 million and $1.56 million), and the forecast is $1.9 million for 2023-2024. Beyond the numbers, this period also saw the launch of Cadolo (a birth gift for parents), the recurrence of spring and holiday campaigns, and the fine-tuning of practices and processes. 

Finally, from an organizational point of view, this cycle was characterized by great stability in governance, with the exception of a change in the chairpersonship. Our team continued to grow, with the number of staff increasing from 10 to 18 and interns joining on a regular basis. The number of departments teaming up with the general manager went from 2 to 4, and the entire Executive Committee was renewed between 2018 and 2023, with the exception of the general manager. Changes and growth are a challenge, but adherence to a shared vision and common foundations is strong as we look ahead to the future. 

The launch of the Discovery Kit and a first call for projects in 2019 marked the beginning of a new resource offering tailored to community-based organizations. Prior to that date, Fondation Olo reached women and families almost exclusively through the health and social services network (with the notable exception of Alima, formerly the Montreal Diet Dispensary). Today, Olo can proudly say it has built relationships with nearly 1,000 organizations that support families. These developments are intimately linked to actions carried out with professionals from the network, as demonstrated by the energy put into supporting linkages and the emerging role of connectors.

Pregnant women and families also benefited first hand from another novelty: the evolution of our food trio with the arrival of frozen vegetables. Orange juice is a thing of the past, but the timeless Olo acronym carries on.

The 5th year of the cycle ended a few days after it was confirmed through Quebec’s budget that provincial funding would be renewed for a 6th year (via the PAGIEPS), pending a new plan to combat poverty and exclusion that will set new ambitions. Internally, the Executive Committee welcomed a new member and began the second half of an interim period. And a strategic clarity exercise initiated in 2022 was relaunched in spring 2023.

The years 2022 and 2023 were also marked by inflation, which puts families at a double disadvantage as well as pressure on Fondation Olo. Higher costs for rent and utilities eat into the family budget available for food at the very time when food costs are rising. More families are falling into food insecurity, and more women are applying for and being granted access to Olo Care. Faced with this demand, Olo care providers are getting more vouchers from Olo, generating more voucher use and considerably higher food purchase costs. Discussions about financial projections raise important questions, while illustrating the growing needs to be met.

The current plan is the result of contributions from members of the Board of Directors and our team, in particular the Executive Committee. For the strategic clarity exercise, external support was sought, first from Credo Impact and then from expert Émilie Pigeon-Gagné. The expert had worked with Olo on the framework of reference entitled Olo Care during the first 1,000 days published in September 2022, a document that influenced both the strategic clarity exercise and the objectives of the current plan.

A structure involving 5 areas of focus and one base was developed based on different audiences. Areas of focus 2 to 5 include the upstream activities of the logic model. Whereas the first is distinct because it includes the family-oriented activities and its audiences consist of different types of families, which remain at the heart of all models.

Fondation Olo will continue to strive to increase its impact in full alignment with the expansions achieved over the last 10 years. Dozens of objectives were set for families and for each of the many and varied groups of allies.

Four fields of action were identified to act on food inequalities and therefore on healthy eating habits and optimal child development: economic factors, access to services, nutrition education and social norms. It is specifically by working on these systemic factors that we can limit the harmful effects of the cycle of social and food inequalities, and eventually break this cycle. 

Fondation Olo’s strength, and the reason it occupies an important place in the perinatal ecosystem, is precisely this dual action on the causes and consequences of food inequalities.

The strategic clarity exercise has enabled us to identify the gaps between what Fondation Olo is doing and all it should be doing to address the problem. The dozens of objectives and the sub-objectives of the strategic plan are the result of this exercise.

These are based on 5 areas of focus and a base:

• Developing a relevant, accessible and durable food offer for the postnatal period of Olo Care
• Creating favourable conditions for a successful deployment and optimal impact of Olo Care
• Developing a continuum of services for families through the 1,000 days and 1,001 journeys project
• Adapting our tools, approach and collaboration methods to the different types of families (regions, culture, Indigenous communities)
• Raising awareness among the public about food inequalities during the first 1,000 days and the importance of addressing them
• Raising awareness among the public about food inequalities during the first 1,000 days and the importance of addressing them