English Speaking Union of the United States National Headquarters HQ

In 2016 the ESU underwent a strategic planning process that resulted in a board-approved blueprint for how the organization should recast itself in response to the changing context of American society and its constituents' needs and interests. The strategic plan identified the following goals for the ESU: English as Catalyst: Develop educational opportunities for employing English as a shared language to inspire common bonds and empowerment of students, teachers and immigrants through creative and confident civil discourse.
International Exchange: Build global understanding through a broad and excellent system of international exchanges supporting teachers and students.
Board Leadership: Build a next generation board passionately committed to building national and international leadership by the ESU through fundraising for and service to the organization's educational programs.
Institutional Capacity-Building: Build the capacity of the ESU to grow, manage, and sustain its programs.

The strategic plan reviewed all of our programs and made recommendations to discontinue a few, and invest in the rest.
English as Catalyst: English in Action; the Andrew Romay New Immigrant Center; Middle School Debate; National Shakespeare Competition.
International Exchange: Teachers Learning Abroad (T-Lab); Secondary School Exchange; and the Luard Morse Scholarships.
The strategic blueprint envisions that each program will establish benchmarks and a plan for reaching them; demonstrate financial stability and a pathway toward growth in revenue and capacity; and in general pursue all elements of an excellent business plan (e.g., revenue/cost analysis, program design, staffing, and marketing). The ESU as an organization is to operate much like an institution of higher learning, with a “school" for international exchange and a “school" for educational opportunities that involve the speaking of English.

The nearly 100-year-old ESU is on a sound financial footing with a small staff based in New York City and 54 branches around the nation.
The staff comprises professionals with degrees in education, refugee and migration studies, English, etc. The ESU has the support of over 1,250 volunteers who donate their time and expertise to our education and immigrant support programs. Our members provide raise funds for the TLab and the Luard Morse Scholarships.
Last but not least, our Board of Directors is engaged and active, working toward the shared goal of establishing the future ESU as a nationally recognized prominent charity. As a key step parallel to the strategic planning, the Board of Directors completed the extensive process of re-organizing the national 501(c)(3) corporation's relationship with the branches, to insure modern management responsive to requirements for nonprofit organizations under U.S. tax rules and to provide for organizational unity through a national network.

EiA – we’ve set up new partnerships with organizations that refer students and volunteers and host conversation sessions outside ESU's house to enrich the content and attract more students.
Kansas City and San Francisco branches have launched EiA in partnership with the local library systems. A pro-bono consulting project with HBSCNY will create manual of operations and a branding strategy to rollout EiA to more locations.
The Andrew Romay New Immigrant Center underwent an independent evaluation with recommendations to make the program more effective that are at the core of our fundraising.
TLab. To subsidize teacher scholarships we offer one-week travel and learn opportunities for lifelong learners.
We are planning a professional assessment of the Middle School Debate that we hope will show the program's impact on students' future success and build the case for why it should receive support from departments of education and the federal government.