1. Strategic diagnosis

I began by reviewing existing strategy documents and running member interviews to build a shared understanding of where the Alliance stood and where it wanted to go.

This process surfaced a few key areas to strengthen in order to match the MSA’s growing ambition:

• Translating high-level goals into clear, measurable objectives

• Strengthening alignment on advocacy priorities and pathways across members

• Developing a MEL framework to track progress

• Enhancing coordination and continuity between key campaign moments

• Making communications a more integrated driver of impact

This phase helped ensure the strategy built on the Alliance’s strong foundations, while strengthening strategic clarity, alignment and accountability.

2. Facilitating alignment and co-creation

I designed and facilitated a 2-day strategy workshop at the Alliance’s annual meeting in Barcelona, focused on moving from broad ambition to concrete alignment.

During the workshop, I guided participants through:

• strategy labs – translating strategic goals into milestone objectives, priority actions and ownership structures

• power mapping exercises – identifying key decision-makers, influencers, allies and blockers

• building consensus around ambition levels and political pathways

• narrative development exercises
  

This process enabled members to move from general agreement to specific, shared commitments and priorities. It created shared ownership and reduced friction in implementation.

3. Building the strategy architecture

For each strategic pillar – bottom trawling, IUU fishing and marine protection – I worked with members to clarify how their work contributes to real-world change:

• developed theories of change grounded in power analysis and mapped the pathway from action to impact, linking activities such as investigations, policy engagement and communications to outcomes

• defined priority strategic directions where the Alliance could have the most leverage in the 5-year time horizon

• introduced a measurement and evaluation framework with quantitative and qualitative KPIs for each objective

I developed a strategic architecture that balances long-term direction with flexibility in implementation to adapt to evolving circumstances:

• a stable 2030 strategic horizon – vision & mission, strategic goals, clear 2030 objectives

• an adaptive layer (rolling implementation) – 12-18 months milestone objectives, individual campaign asks, tactical interventions

• regular review and adjustment cycles

This made the strategy practical and actionable, showing not just what to achieve, but how to get there.

I facilitated the development of a shared MSA narrative to unify communications across the Alliance. This included:

• a common vision and positioning for the Mediterranean

• core key messages across the three strategic pillars

• clear guidance for when and how the Alliance communicates collectively

This provided a shared foundation for more consistent and coordinated external communications.

4. Narrative and communications alignment

I always design strategy with implementation in mind, ensuring it can be activated in practice, not just exist as a static document. To do this, I:

• Developed a set of coordination principles to guide how members work together, including decision-making, communication flows and alignment on joint actions

• Established working groups as core delivery mechanisms, organised around the three strategic pillars

• Defined ownership structures for key actions, enabling members to take on roles as co-leads, supporters or informed contributors

• Prepared a 2026 action plan, translating the strategy into immediate priorities and next steps so the Alliance could move quickly into implementation

This approach turned the strategy from a static document into a working system for coordinated action across the Alliance.

5. The infrastructure for implementation

Results

• Aligned 20+ organisations around a shared 2030 strategy

• Defined SMART goals, milestone objectives and priority actions across each of the three strategic pillars: bottom trawling, IUU fishing and marine protection

• Established clear ownership structures to support implementation

• Created a unified narrative framework to strengthen advocacy and visibility

• Introduced a flexible strategy architecture balancing long-term direction with adaptability

• Introduced a MEL framework

• Set up alliance-wide coordination systems to sustain momentum

Beyond the formal outputs, the process brought together a diverse coalition of organisations — with different sizes, mandates, geographies and approaches — and translated this into a shared, actionable, multi-year strategy with a clear implementation logic.

Unlike single-organisation strategy, coalition strategy operates at a different level of complexity. It is the work of enabling collective impact by creating a common strategic ground where members can contribute meaningfully, according to their strengths.

If you’re working across a coalition or multi-partner initiative and need help turning shared ambition into strategy, feel free to reach out.

Ioana delivered exceptional results, transforming our high-level vision into a clear, measurable, and unified framework. The final strategy documents are expertly articulated and concise; they provide the clear goals, objectives, and messaging necessary to guide our Alliance over the next several years.

Beyond the technical deliverables, Ioana demonstrated a deep commitment to creating a product that is truly useful. She actively discussed how to best utilize the strategy moving forward, ensuring it serves as a foundation for our future communications. Her engagement goes well beyond the formal scope of a proposal; she has become a trusted strategic partner for our Alliance.

I recommend Ioana Matei without reservation for any organization seeking a consultant who combines strategic brilliance with a deeply collaborative approach.

Karlijn Steinbusch
Director of the Med Sea Alliance