2025–2030 Strategic Framework
The Water Institute is entering a new era of growth and impact. Our 2025-2030 Strategic Framework charts the course for the next five years, building on our roots in Louisiana and expanding our impact to the Gulf Coast and geographies facing similar challenges. Guided by our mission and vision, we are strengthening our role as a trusted partner at the intersection of science, strategy, and collaboration.
This framework is more than a roadmap - it's a commitment to lead with vision and creativity. By investing in innovation, target challenges, community-driven work, and institutional excellence, we are charting a path forward that is both proactive and transformative.
What Sets Us Apart
- Bold Science – Tackling hard, uncertain problems at the nexus of environment and society.
- Cross-Sector Collaboration – Partnering with academia, government, communities, nonprofits, and the private sector.
- Interdisciplinary Rigor – Integrating natural and social sciences, planning, technology, and policy.
- Action-Oriented Results – Turning knowledge into solutions that communities can trust.
Our Strategic Priorities: Proactively Furthering Our Impact
The framework builds on our strengths while positioning us to lead with foresight. Together, these priorities move us from successful but primarily reactive stance toward proactive, creative solutions.
- Innovate for Impact
- Foster creativity and experimentation to fuel new methods and solutions.
- Launch an Innovation Studio to scale digital application development.
- Identify and pursue Target Challenges where proactive science can drive transformative change.
- Deepen Our Collaborative Role
- Strengthen partnerships throughout our Areas of Impact in Louisiana, across the Gulf Coast and beyond.
- Focus on community-led resilience through the Community Resilience Center and other initiatives.
- Build strategic relationships with federal agencies and scale national impact.
- Strengthen Organizational Excellence
- Adapt our organization to maximize impact by Center our work on integrity, inclusion, and collaboration.
- Invest in scientific rigor, open data, and systems that support proactive collaboration and innovation.
- Foster a cohesive culture across our growing, distributed team.
- Increase Financial Resilience
- Diversify revenue streams and expand philanthropic partnerships.
- Empower a Mission Advancement team to marshal resources for high-impact work.
- Develop sustainable models to ensure long-term success.
Our Areas of Impact
Our work spans some of the most urgent socio-environmental challenges:
Learn more about how your support can help The Water Institute expand impact to more people. communities, ecosystems, economies, here.
