From global advocacy campaigns
to organisational inflection points,
we turn complexity into direction.
Our strategy work begins where most consultants stop — not with frameworks and templates, but with honest diagnosis. Before any direction can be set, the real situation has to be understood: what the organisation is actually capable of, what external forces are genuinely in play, and what the people in the room are truly willing to commit to.
The result is strategy that holds — not because it looks good on paper, but because it was built on clarity, tested against reality, and owned by the people responsible for carrying it forward.
What World Strategies has spent 25 years developing strategy in some of the world's most demanding environments — international foundations, UN agencies, governments, and global coalitions dealing with health, climate, education, and development. That depth of experience is brought to every engagement, regardless of sector or scale.
We work alongside organisations to clarify direction, resolve competing priorities, build shared ownership of a plan, and create the conditions for effective execution. We don't hand over a strategy and walk away. We stay until the direction is clear and the team is ready to move.
"Good strategy is not about choosing a direction. It is about building the clarity and commitment to go there — together."
Three types of strategy work.
One standard of rigour.
Strategic Planning
& Direction-Setting
Working with leadership teams and boards to establish clear strategic direction — defining goals, setting priorities, resolving competing mandates, and building the shared commitment needed to execute. Honest, rigorous, and built for the real world.
3–5 year strategic plans · Board strategy sessions · Organisational pivots · Vision and mission alignment · Goal-setting frameworks
Multi-Stakeholder
Strategy Development
Designing and leading strategy processes that bring multiple organisations, partners, or constituencies into shared planning. We act as both strategic advisor and honest broker — ensuring the process is rigorous and the outcomes are genuinely owned by all parties.
Coalition strategy · Joint plans of action · Partnership frameworks · Shared advocacy strategies · Cross-sector initiatives
Scenario Planning
& Strategic Foresight
Helping organisations think rigorously about the futures they might face — and build the strategic flexibility to respond. We facilitate scenario planning processes that produce not just a plan, but a shared mental model for decision-making when conditions change.
Scenario planning workshops · Long-range strategic planning · Risk and opportunity mapping · Futures-oriented board retreats
A Global Plan of Action
for Child Health
A major international foundation had identified child health in developing countries as a strategic priority — but recognised that meaningful change required more than funding. It required alignment across dozens of partner organisations spanning governments, NGOs, academic institutions, and health agencies, each with their own mandates and priorities.
We designed an inclusive strategy development process that brought external partners into the planning from the outset — rather than presenting them with a finished plan to endorse. Through structured consultations, working sessions, and a culminating multi-stakeholder convening, we helped the foundation surface shared priorities, negotiate across competing mandates, and build the collaborative architecture needed to turn intention into action. Our role was equal parts strategic advisor and honest broker.
The foundation and its partners emerged with a co-developed plan of action — clear goals, defined partner roles, shared accountability mechanisms, and a governance structure for ongoing collaboration. Because partners had shaped the plan rather than signed on to it, implementation began with an unusual level of energy and genuine ownership.
Three-Year Strategic Direction
for a Board Under Pressure
The CEO of a global non-governmental organisation recognised that the board needed to think beyond the next funding round. With global disruption accelerating, political changes on the horizon, and evolving government expectations, the board needed a three-year strategic direction that accounted for multiple possible futures — not just the most likely one.
Working closely with the CEO through pre-retreat planning, we designed a focused two-day board retreat. We facilitated scenario planning exercises exploring four distinct future states for the sector, guided the board through strategic goal-setting against each scenario, and helped identify the capabilities and investments needed regardless of which future materialised. We also created space to address the underlying organisational challenges that could derail even the best-designed strategy.
The board established a clear three-year direction with concrete goals and milestones — and a shared mental model for responding when conditions changed. Six months later, when a major political shift occurred, they were able to move quickly and confidently because they had already worked through that scenario.
Leaders who understand that good strategy is not a document — it is a decision, made with conviction, that the whole organisation can carry.
Corporate Boards
& Executives
CEOs and boards navigating growth, disruption, transformation, or the need to reset strategic direction.
International
Foundations
Foundations working on global challenges that require bringing multiple partners into a coherent, co-owned plan of action.
Coalitions &
Advocacy Groups
Multi-organisation groups that need a shared strategy — not just a shared position — to move together effectively.
Government &
Public Sector
Agencies and advisory bodies developing strategy in complex, high-stakes political and institutional environments.
Tell us what you are building,
what you are navigating,
or where you need to go next.
We will tell you how we can help.
Start the Conversation →