(Athens, Ga., March 23, 2026) – The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners wrapped up its 2026 Strategic Planning Session last week, focusing on priorities, performance and how the County will continue to meet the needs of a growing community. Held March 18 through March 20, the session brought together commissioners and senior leadership to align goals, review progress and plan for the year ahead.

“Strategic planning is how we stay focused on what matters most,” said Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson. “It ensures our decisions are aligned with our values and that we’re delivering meaningful, measurable results for the residents we serve.” The Board’s discussions centered on five key priorities: organizational excellence and accountability, public infrastructure, safe and healthy communities, economic opportunity and sustainability.

A major part of this year’s session was reviewing progress from the County’s Operational Performance Assessment, which began in 2021 to take a closer look at how Gwinnett operates and where it can improve. Since then, the County has completed 437 of 521 recommendations, with the rest currently underway. That progress reflects a shift toward a more employee-driven approach, where teams across departments are helping identify issues and move solutions forward. The session also highlighted efforts to strengthen how the County uses data and plans its budget.

The Office of Strategic Management and Budget shared a new Data Analytics Framework aimed at improving how data is collected, shared and used to support decision-making across the organization. At the same time, leadership outlined a more structured approach to budgeting -- one that focuses on long-term planning, clearer justification for requests and making sure resources are aligned with the County’s priorities.

The session also included commissioner reflections on what’s working across their districts and where challenges remain -- including growth, traffic, housing, infrastructure and maintaining public trust. Looking ahead, the County is building on this work by continuing its employee-led approach to improvement through new internal teams focused on collaboration, problem-solving and long-term progress.