The Joseph Factor Leads Influential Strategy Session

​Dr. Anthony D. Bobo, Jr., Senior Associate with The Joseph Factor Group, recently facilitated a strategy session for Influential, a ministry and consulting organization co-founded by Dr. Efrem Smith and his wife, Donecia Norwood-Smith. The Smiths have a long history of ministry leadership, church planting, and spiritual care across the United States and around the world.
Influential provides speaking, coaching, consulting, and resources to organizations of all sizes. Their work is grounded in more than 20 years of experience serving on the staff of churches, colleges, high schools, leadership foundations, and urban missions organizations.

The team gathered for a strategic planning meeting that combined spiritual formation with organizational alignment and future-focused visioning. The group began with devotional and restoration sessions, followed by a year-in-review of key initiatives, including communication, Project Restoration Chosen, pastor soul care, podcasts, Sankofa, preaching cohorts, and denominational partnerships. The team then moved into 2026 goal-setting during a working lunch.

A major emphasis of the meeting was clarifying the long-term direction of Influential beyond 2026, including an expanded vision for multiple expressions of the work: Influential Ministries, Influential Ink, Influential Consulting, Influential Ventures, and IN Travel. The team also identified key 2026 priorities such as growing and monetizing the podcasts, strengthening and sustaining cohort models through a membership or subscription approach, planning an African American pastors and spouses soul care retreat in April, and formally launching Midtown Leadership Institute with a clearly defined seminary partnership. These priorities were shaped by a shared mission, covenant, and set of operating values.
“It is always a blessing to be with the Influential Team,” shared Dr. Bobo. “I am continually inspired by the work of the Smiths and the legacy they have in ministry.”

We ask God’s blessing on the kingdom work of Influential and look forward to what lies ahead.

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