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About Our Strategic Vision

Everyone in Harmony: a bold vision for a bright future

The gift of harmony is too wonderful for us to keep to ourselves. It is a gift that we are not only compelled to share, but one that we now have the capability, resources and unity of purpose to share with everyone.

We need to share it with young and old, with people of every color and every strata, with city people and country people and everyone in between, because the world needs what we have.

Harmony compels us to blend, to cooperate, to create beauty. Indeed, to love each other. It’s time to think of the gift of harmony not just as a treasure for our own enjoyment, but as a tool for direct social impact.

Read on to learn more about the journey to our strategic vision, Everyone in Harmony, and how you can get involved!

Announcements & Stories

Read our blog to stay up to date on all Everyone in Harmony news!

Everyone in Harmony Roadshow: Now Available Online!

Continuing our Inclusion Journey

A free, interactive workshop

The in-person Roadshow, presented in nearly 20 cities across the U.S. in early 2019, mixed formal presentations with small group discussions and activities, reflection opportunities, and, yes, singing!

Participants took a deep dive into the Chapter Considerations Guide and learned more about our Everyone in Harmony strategic vision, operational and administrative updates for chapters, and how we're offering more ways to barbershop.



For those who could not make it to the Roadshow this spring, or attendees who wish to work through the program with their chapter, a condensed, online version of the Roadshow is now available!

How it all started: A Timeline

JUNE 2017 | LAUNCH OF NEW STRATEGIC VISION EVERYONE IN HARMONY In 2017, following an intensive 18-month process of research and carefully listening to our members, the Barbershop Harmony Society Board of Directors adopted a bold new Strategic Vision: Everyone in Harmony. Read the 2017 Everyone in Harmony Announcement (pdf) JUNE 19, 2018 | NEXT STEPS TOWARD VISION SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP OPENS TO ALL In 2018, the Society board announced the next step toward Everyone in Harmony: Effective immediately, membership in the Barbershop Harmony Society is open to EVERYONE. Beginning today, we welcome women to join the Barbershop Harmony Society as members... Read the full letter from 2018 Board President Skipp Kropp



Resources: Brochures, Posters, and More

Strategic Vision Brochure

Back in 1938, O.C. Cash and Rupert Hall stumbled upon something quite profound: the joy and transformation sparked by four voices singing together. Rooted in African American traditions, this wonderful music — barbershop music — embodied the transformative power to change men for the better.



Now in our ninth decade, it’s time to pause and reflect on where we’ve been … and where we’re going.

Roadmap & Milestones

Our Strategic Vision of Everyone in Harmony describes a destination, not a "program." Rather than an instant fix, it requires a planning framework of five, ten, twenty years and more, for ambitions broader than a single year of growth.



To get there, your team of Board and staff leadership created a Roadmap & Milestones document, which CEO Marty Monson introduced to participants in a Town Hall Meeting at the Midwinter Convention in Costa Mesa.

The Four Workstreams

Four workstreams comprise the roadmap, corresponding to the major strategies in the Strategic Vision. Milestones along the path mark dates by which specific achievements will be accomplished. Most of the milestones are in the next five years as we strive to sustain momentum and make meaningful impact on our membership, chapters, and communities.

The four workstreams include:

Scale Participation and Engagement

Scale Impact

Scale Assets

Scale Inclusion

Learn More about Each Workstream Scale Participation and Engagement: Preserving and encouraging barbershop singing by helping people participate and engage in barbershop, rather than simply becoming “members.”

Scale Impact: Expanding the impact of barbershop singing and BHS to the broader community and world.







Scale Assets: Putting our assets to work on behalf of the whole world of barbershop, and eventually other choral groups as well.





Scale Inclusion: Being radically inclusive and welcoming towards all, so that we reflect the communities in which we live.





Downloadable Resources

Show your support for Everyone in Harmony

You’re invited to show your support for the Strategic Vision by downloading these resources and using them as a reminder to you and your chapters about the ever-growing Strategic Vision that will shape the future of our Society for generations to come.

Would you like us to customize this poster for you with your own chapter photos? We will be happy to help create a custom version of this poster with your chapter and quartet photos to help better visualize your group’s role in helping promote the new vision. Email marketing@barbershop.org for information on service and pricing options for this.

FAQs

Want to learn more about the Society's strategic choice, the timeline for decisions and implementations, change management in the chapter, legal and contest considerations, and more?

Click on the button below to access our most frequently asked questions!

Contact Us

Want to help us implement our vision? Email strategy@barbershop.org to inquire about how you can get involved.

Questions? Contact societyboard@barbershop.org.