LEADERSHIP, PLANNING, AND EVALUATION: PROJECT SUMMARY The Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Massey Cancer Center (MCC) Senior Leadership and its multi- level planning and evaluation structures are instrumental to the Center’s ability to identify and prioritize new strategic opportunities for growth; perform formative and summative evaluation for all efforts across the MCC research, clinical, and educational domains; and ensure continuous alignment with the Center’s mission, vision, and goals. The MCC Director, Robert A. Winn, MD, who was recruited and appointed in late 2019 as the MCC’s fourth Director since the Center first received National Cancer Institute designation in 1975, leads a Senior Leadership team that includes a Deputy Director and nine Associate Directors who collectively govern as part of an Executive Committee. The Executive Committee fosters a dynamic, inclusive, and interactive environment in which creative planning, rigorous evaluation, targeted investments, and policy developments occur. This Senior Leadership team is guided by a detailed five-year strategic plan, reviewed and revised in late 2020, which was informed by many stakeholders including representatives from the community, Center investigators, VCU leaders, staff, and students/trainees. Seven overarching pillar goals, six core values, articulated disease and mitigating behavioral risk priorities, and dozens of strategies were delineated as part of the 2021-2025 Strategic Plan. Rooted in a Community-to-Bench framework where community engagement is front and center in everything the Center does, the plan also features crosscutting themes focused on addressing cancer disparities and improving survivorship in MCC’s catchment area. The Senior Leadership relies on regular advice and engagement from multiple external advisory entities to evaluate the strategic plan implementation, progress, and milestones; identify resources needed; and refine and add strategies as warranted. These external advisory entities include a Cancer Community Connection Coalition and a Massey Nation Philanthropic Board with members from both serving on a Director’s Community Cabinet and an External Scientific Advisory Board. Internally, the MCC relies on input from its Scientific Steering Committee, comprising Associate Directors and Research Program Leaders and each quarter they are joined by Shared Resource Directors, to guide the oversight and review of research development within and among the programs’ membership, devise approaches to foster transdisciplinary and translational collaborations, and ensure they are supported by the latest technologies and expertise. A few other select advisory Committees providing essential planning and evaluation input to the Director and Senior Leadership include a Research Training and Education Advisory Committee; Diversity, Equity, an Inclusion Guidance Committee; Clinical Research Leadership Committee; and a Cancer Service Line Operational Steering Co...