To provide young Americans with skills, knowledge and confidence to become productive and responsible citizens while instilling in them an appreciation for our sea services.

Sea Cadets will be well known throughout the nation for diverse and high-quality training opportunities. Our robust corps will be funded for growth and integrated with the sea services. We will be relevant, vibrant, and viable. Cadets and adult volunteers will adhere to the highest standards of behavior, foster an inclusive environment, and treat others with the utmost dignity and respect.

Source: Nonprofit submitted responses

Goal One: Increase enrollment to 8,500 cadets in 5 years through improved recruiting and retention.

Goal Type: Grow, expand, scale or increase access to the existing programs and services.

Goal Two: Fully define the Sea Cadet Experience and make improvements to ensure we provide excellent training across an appropriate variety of topics.

Goal Type: Focus on core programs to achieve mission and scale back on programs not seen as core.

Goal Three: Be good stewards of financial resources. Attract, build, and retain a robust network of advocates for growth, improved training, and risk reduction. n

Goal Type: Invest in the capacity of our organization (financial, management, technical, etc.).

Describe an investment in leadership

Sea Cadets has invested significantly in our leaders. In the past year we have held major conferences to ensure our leaders understand how to plan, fund, and deliver quality training to cadets. During our conferences small groups met with subject matter experts to learn about risk management, discipline, financial management, leadership, and various specific maritime related topics. One conference was specifically for senior leaders of regions and the other conference gathered leaders of week long cadet training camps. Additionally, we have developed new tools to help instructors in our program understand the content and how best to deliver it. We hold periodic virtual meetings to allow our unit leaders to get informed about policy changes and get their questions answered. At the Board of Directors level, we have implemented a series of monthly board education webinars.

This organization mobilizes for mission in the following ways:

• Strategic Partnerships

• Networks of Collective Impact Efforts

• Thought Leadership

• Raising Awareness

• Community Building

What are this organization’s external mobilizaton efforts?

Our Board of Directors and senior leaders attend many networking gatherings in order to promote Sea Cadets and gather support. Our efforts are aimed at senior leaders who can offer Sea Cadets access to facilities and programs as well as wealthy donors and foundations who can provide financial resources to grow our program. Sea Cadet leaders have spoken at community events, on podcasts, and published articles about the value we add. We also use social media to ensure as many people as possible are aware of our mission and how we help young men and women get a head start on life.

In the past year, Sea Cadets has had to restart all of our in person trainings that had been shut down due to COVID. Some of the locations that hosted a Sea Cadet training very easily welcomed us back, but there were also challenges. Traditionally, Sea Cadets train on military installations. Many of these had very restrictive COVID rules, and even when restrictions were lifted for service members, Sea Cadets had trouble gaining access. When this occurred, our volunteers sought other opportunities such as schools, churches, VFW, American Legion, and other social organizations. However, some units simply could not find a new home and had to close. Sea Cadets gives young people skills, knowledge, and confidence to become productive Americans. Much of that requires in person activity. But for the portion that can be delivered in a more academic environment, we created virtual programs. This allowed Sea Cadets to survive during a most challenging time. Another huge change in 2022 was the rapid increase in costs due to inflation. In order to keep cadets engaged in a time of rising prices, we lowered the fee we charge families. Families were still burdened with transportation costs to get to our training events, but at least the cost of attendance was below market. Because Sea Cadets offers young men and women a chance to change the trajectory of their lives, we make every effort to keep our program accessible to as many families as possible. We're also increasing our development effort in order to find more funds to offset costs to the families whose children can truly benefit from our program.