Will County Hires LEAP HR Consulting for $12,000 Strategic Plan

Will County Board Meeting | March 19, 2026

Article Summary: Seeking to unify its vision and improve onboarding for new members, the Will County Board will launch a four-month strategic planning initiative led by Bolingbrook-based LEAP HR Consulting.

Strategic Plan Key Points:

• The board will invest $12,000 in a four-phase strategic planning process running from April through July 2026.

• The plan will address identified gaps, including the lack of formal onboarding materials for newly elected board members.

• The process will include a board-wide survey, one-on-one stakeholder interviews, and an off-site leadership workshop.

The Will County Board on Thursday, March 19, 2026, officially kicked off the development of a comprehensive strategic plan, hiring a local consulting firm to help outline the county’s priorities and improve internal governance.

Laurie Swilley, CEO and Founder of Bolingbrook-based LEAP HR Consulting, presented the framework for the initiative. The project will cost a total of $12,000 and run on an accelerated four-month timeline from April to July 2026.

Swilley explained that Will County currently operates without a formal strategic plan, leaving the board without a unified direction. She noted that one of the primary “gaps” the plan will address is the lack of institutional knowledge retention.

“As we have people coming onto the board, we also have people that may exit the board, so there is a need for onboarding material,” Swilley told the board. “These members would get the opportunity to get vast institutional knowledge to make sure that they understand what their roles and responsibilities are.”

The four-phase process will begin with an online survey sent to all 22 board members in April. This will be followed by one-on-one interviews with board members and key community stakeholders. In May or June, the board will participate in a full-day, off-site leadership workshop featuring team-building exercises and a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis.

The final deliverable will be a comprehensive, 30-page strategic plan report delivered by July 31, intended to guide the county’s decisions for the next five years.