Young Life, a global ministry introducing adolescents to Jesus Christ and helping them grow in their faith, was in a period of organizational transition. The Project Management Office (PMO), historically technology-focused, was being called on to take a broader role in program and portfolio management. 
 

Leadership needed to make high-stakes decisions about the PMO’s structure, effectiveness, and integration into mission governance, and they needed real-time, organization-wide insights to guide those decisions.

Young Life hired Way Forth Collective to design and execute a comprehensive 360° assessment — completed in less than 3 weeks — that consisted of: 
 

• A Kickoff Meeting & Alignment: defined success criteria, clarified participant lists, and confirmed engagement goals with the client. 
   

• Expanded Stakeholder Outreach: Distributed a short-form questionnaire to nearly 50 internal Young Life stakeholders, achieving a 96% response rate.
   

• Deep-Dive Interviews: Facilitated five small group sessions to capture rich qualitative insights. 
   

• Comprehensive Analysis: Integrated survey data with interview findings to identify strengths, gaps, and opportunities. 
   

• Deliverables: 

  • Executive Summary of high-level findings 

  • Detailed After-Action Report 

  • Stop, Start, Continue framework for actionable recommendations

  • Top Recommendations by Priority for immediate implementation 

In less than 3 weeks, Young Life leadership gained a clear, evidence-based understanding of the PMO’s current state, strengths, and stakeholder trust levels. The resulting recommendations provided a prioritized roadmap to: 
 

• Strengthen the PMO’s role in organizational decision-making 
   

• Clarify and strategically distinguish the PMO and CMO roles within the organization 
   

• Improve stakeholder engagement and trust 
   

• Align operations more seamlessly with mission governance 
   

The rapid turnaround and expanded scope equipped Young Life’s leaders to enter their next season strategically prepared, with clarity, confidence, and a united vision for the PMO’s future, ensuring today’s decisions will amplify ministry impact for years to come.