RD564 - Council on Virginia's Future Annual Executive Summary - January 2017


Executive Summary:
Introduction

This report was prepared pursuant to §2.2-2689 of the Code of Virginia, which requires the Council on Virginia’s Future to provide an executive summary of the activities and work of the Council to the Governor and the General Assembly each year. More information about the Council and its work is available at future.virginia.gov.

Recent Highlights

The Council on Virginia’s Future, which is chaired by the Governor and includes government and citizen leaders, was established in 2004 and reauthorized twice through 2017. It advises Virginia’s leaders on the development and implementation of a long-range approach for measuring and improving the quality of life and the effectiveness of state government in Virginia. Its signature initiative is Virginia Performs, the state’s performance leadership and accountability system ( http://VaPerforms.virginia.gov).

The Council made significant progress in 2016 in the continued evolution of Virginia Performs and its development of special issues. Highlights include:

• We continue to make regular updates to Virginia Performs to ensure the initiative remains fresh and relevant. Recent changes include the debut of new indicators: Economic Diversity, Health Risk Factors, and Mortality and Longevity. New measures and other content were also added to the Air Quality, Water Quality, and Solid Waste and Recycling, and Energy indicators.

• Virginia Performs includes a set of Enterprise Strategic Priorities (ESPs) developed by Governor McAuliffe and his team, with support from Council staff. These goals, priorities, and initiatives – which typically transcend agency and other organizational boundaries – foster a more intense focus on those things leadership deems most critical and provide important input for formal agency strategic planning.

• Enhancements were made to Virginia Performs’ three priority-focused report cards: Virginia’s Workforce System, State Government Operations, and Innovation and Entrepreneurship. These report cards are designed to help accelerate progress on high-priority issues, and all three report cards were recently updated and revised to both clarify assessment and better reflect the most important drivers of progress.

• The Council continues to publish special reports, analyses, and other products that strengthen our understanding of issues important to Virginia’s long-term future.