Dear All,

Welcome to IVC’s year of Vision and Planning!

After almost two years of development and preparation today, October 10, 2023, IVC’s board of directors and I are proud to launch ‘Imagine IVC,’ IVC’s formal Vision and Planning Process. We invite you to join us in co-creating a vision and plan for the future of IVC.

Thirty years ago, the two Jesuits who founded IVC, Jim Conroy, SJ and Charlie Costello, SJ, spent a year reading the documents of Vatican II, Scripture, and the apostolic goals for the Society of Jesus. They sought consultation and spent time in contemplation and prayer. Then they launched IVC.

This year we have created discernment methods that mirror the vision and planning process those two forward thinkers used. Now, with a vibrant, active IVC we will invite all of you who make up the IVC mission community – past and present service corps members, regional council members, spiritual leaders and reflectors, Jesuits, social service agency leaders, benefactors, board members and IVC staff – to provide input to the vision and planning process for the future. You are the IVC mission and your voice matters.

All organizations, if they want to be as inclusive as we hope to be, must grow and develop to meet changing times. Social missions especially need to meet the prevalent needs in their communities as well as meet the needs of their stakeholders. As members of the IVC community, your perspectives are crucial to imagining IVC’s future. This will be a large undertaking but one we believe is fundamental to IVC retaining its core values while also expanding the reach of our service.

From now through December we aim to actively gather insights, in-depth responses, and honest opinions from each of you. We invite every single individual to actively share their voice and experiences as part of a unified IVC community. We will achieve this through several methods: surveys, Visioning Sessions, focus groups, and one-on-one interviews. We have designed these tools to draw inspiration and guidance from the invaluable feedback shared by you, our dedicated constituents. You will all be invited to attend one of our upcoming Visioning Sessions, I sincerely hope you take the opportunity to attend.

To be more concrete, the goals of Imagine IVC are as follows:

– To gain meaningful insights on experiences and views;

– To better understand how IVC’s mission impacts our corps members, our partner agencies, and men, women, children, and families they serve;

– To identify areas of strength in the mission and areas that require attention;

– To co-create a vision for IVC’s future;

– To foster closer connectivity across the country of those involved in IVC’s mission;

– To spiritually strengthen IVC’s operations and the function of service in mission;

– To create a greater energy for the mission and a sense of ownership in a shared vision.

By accomplishing these goals together, you will help us chart the future direction of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps (IVC). We recognize that the collective insights, ideas, and aspirations expressed by you all, our corps members, friends, donors, and partners, are the compass guiding our course. Together, we embark on this transformative journey, resolute in our commitment to the principles of Ignatian spirituality and the enduring mission of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps.

Thank you for taking the time to shape the future IVC. Together, with the Holy Spirit as guide, we will envision how IVC may look at it’s 40th anniversary.

With gratitude always for you,

Mary McGinnity
President/CEO