and our rich history have served as the foundation for the growth and
prominence of the Missouri Botanical Garden in the St. Louis community
and throughout the world for over 150 years. Today, our mission has
never been more relevant or important. Plant diversity, the world’s greatest
renewable natural resource, is being lost at an alarming rate, and we
must act with the greatest urgency to document and conserve it before
it is too late.
This Strategic Plan reflects the Garden’s commitment to this
critical challenge. The Missouri Botanical Garden has recognized and
accepted its responsibility to be an effective leader, mentor, advocate,
and practitioner of environmental protection at home and throughout the
world.
The 2008-14 Strategic Plan, adopted by the Board of Trustees in
December 2007, was largely oriented toward the functional success of
our operating divisions, and the challenging economy in the early years of
that plan required a reevaluation of our priorities as we sought progress
toward our goals. Nevertheless, the 2008-2014 Plan provided an excellent
planning basis toward 2020.
Our work up to 2020 will embody the successes of past programs infused
with a strategic focus on four key directions for the Garden: leading Plant
Conservation and enhancing our role as a premier Cultural Institution, while
growing our Organizational Capability and ensuring stability and continuity
through Financial Planning.
