Planned Parenthood Federation of America transforms work culture through an innovative Google Workspace reimagining guided by SADA

Like many organizations, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) had come to a digital summit in recent years. As a highly targeted nonprofit in the healthcare sector, PPFA needs to have the ability to change quickly and adopt new technologies while maintaining agility, efficiency and effectiveness for their core mission.

PPFA understood that technology alone isn’t enough; it’s about transforming the way people work, collaborate, and innovate. Their focus on cultivating a digitally fluent workforce is a key indicator of a mature approach to digital transformation, ensuring that the human element is at the forefront of technological adoption.

Business challenge 

Fragmenting the digital landscape

PPFA faced challenges operating with both Microsoft Office and Google Workspace. Because they were using two different productivity and collaboration toolsets at the same time, this led to fragmented workflows, duplicated data, inconsistent collaboration, and difficulties for staff in locating information. 

“The original migration to Google Workspace lacked intentional configuration, which didn’t allow us to fully leverage its capabilities, resulting in inefficiencies in document workflows and data management,” says Marina Spyrou, current CIO and CISO at PPFA. “This fragmented approach also introduced security risks due to inconsistent practices and made compliance and enforcement more difficult. It wasn’t merely a tool problem but a work-culture problem.”

Furthermore, Spyrou, who had prior experience with Google Workspace at a global S&P 500 data and analytics company, recognized its potential for PPFA and set out to relaunch the platform.

“I wanted to take advantage of what we could get out of Google Workspace,” says Spyrou. “To do that, we had to reactivate the platform and the culture around the platform. We had to engage people to think, learn, and leverage it beyond Gmail, Docs, and Slides, and realize the power of Google Workspace as a collaborative tool for how we can engage with each other internally and our supporters and donors externally.”

Versioning confusion 

Key business problems included inefficient contract redlining processes, which involved versioning confusion and disconnected email chains from sending Word documents back and forth. Additionally, large spreadsheet file sizes created performance issues and bottlenecks for data-heavy teams because of email attachment size limitations. 

“The previous approach of merely highlighting features of Google Workspace fell short because staff, busy with their daily tasks and focused on our mission, struggled to see how these features directly translated to their work,” says Spyrou. 

PPFA’s federated structure, with independent affiliates, also presented challenges for software standardization and documentation. While internal standardization on Google Workspace was a goal, ensuring interoperability with affiliates, who might use different standards, was crucial for effective engagement and collaboration without compromising autonomy.

Underutilizing cloud-first features 

Certain skill gaps also existed within the workforce regarding cloud-first solutions. Staff were unfamiliar with collaborative features like version history, shared drives, or real-time editing in Google Workspace, leading to their underutilization. “We needed a total shift in mindset around collaboration,” says Spyrou. “We didn’t want to flip a switch and force our teams to change. We wanted to build a movement so they would feel supported and inspired by what Google Workspace could do for them.” 

Solution

Approaching digital transformation in two ways

To help fulfill her vision of the work culture at PPFA, Spyrou engaged SADA, An Insight company, and 2025 Google Cloud Global Partner of the Year for Google Workspace, to implement a two-pronged work transformation project. First, SADA would conduct deep use-case discovery to understand how PPFA staff works and engages with productivity tools. Then SADA’s Change Management practice would provide comprehensive, customized training to level up their education and close skills gaps around Google Workspace tools. “SADA’s approach to Google Workspace digital transformation wasn’t cookie-cutter,” says Spyrou. “It was really tailored to our mission, teams, and goals.”

SADA’s holistic Google Workspace transformation strategy, emphasizing feedback and cloud-first solutions, aligned with PPFA’s vision of becoming a truly cloud-first, fluent organization. This involved reimagining work in a digital-first, real-time, and secure manner, leveraging tools to their fullest capability. “SADA operationalized our vision by focusing on the lived user experience and practical business value, bringing tools to life for users,” says Spyrou.

Documenting over 100 Google Workspace use cases

To find the highest-value workflows within PPFA, SADA documented over 100 use cases. After identifying and evaluating them for business impact, SADA determined which were technically feasible within Google Workspace and the efforts needed to support them. This process enabled SADA and PPFA to prioritize them and plan enablement accordingly. 

Training approaches implemented by SADA went beyond generic feature overviews. SADA focused on highly customized, scenario-based training, with sessions designed specifically for teams such as legal, HR, and data-heavy departments. “SADA also provided just-in-time guides, video walk-throughs, and office hours to support staff where they are,” says Spyrou. 

For contract redlining, teams were encouraged to leverage version control and audit trails for faster legal reviews. For large Excel spreadsheets, the solution involved placing the spreadsheets in Google Workspace and securely sharing them, eliminating bottlenecks for data-heavy teams. Early Gemini enablement focused on productivity boosters like drafting templates, summaries, and responsible and secure data extraction.

Personalizing white-glove sessions for executives

A critical component of SADA’s Google Workspace transformation was the white-glove sessions for PPFA’s leadership team. These were high-touch, personalized walk-throughs focused on each executive’s specific needs, especially for those who came from workplaces that only used Microsoft. 

“These were not just demos but leadership-enablement sessions designed to foster executive buy-in and champion modeling from the top,” says Spyrou. “These sessions contributed significantly to Google Workspace adoption by enabling leadership to speak with confidence about the platform, which encouraged staff to explore and engage more with the tools.”

Integrating key legacy workflows

One of the most critical aspects of PPFA’s transformation revolved around ensuring deeply embedded workflows didn’t break as they were moved to a Google Workspace-first environment. SADA addressed the integration of key legacy workflows dependent on Microsoft templates or data processes by treating it as a business-process-redesign opportunity instead of as a lift-and-shift exercise. For example, SADA worked with PPFA global teams to redesign PowerPoint templates in Google Slides to ensure a seamless transition with no business impact, maintain brand consistency, and make them easy to use and maintain.

“SADA really helped us navigate this challenge with precision and empathy,” says Spyrou. “This really aligned with our cultural change management philosophy of putting our teams and their work first.”

Streamlining overlapping licenses, embedding security

Also, PPFA wanted to streamline the number of overlapping Microsoft licenses and foster a consistent collaboration ecosystem, with Google Workspace as the default choice. Through use-case analysis, SADA helped define and support approximately 30% of the staff who had legitimate needs for Microsoft Office tools, ensuring a thoughtful transition rather than forcing everyone into a single solution. This involved engaging teams early, demonstrating value, and co-creating new processes that felt better—all of which helped in building trust and minimizing disruption.

Additionally, security was a foundational component of the transformation. Information security was embedded into every aspect of PPFA’s Google Workspace transformation—from governance to permission settings and training. “Security is part of the DNA of every technology solution that we implement,” says Spyrou. “We were able to proactively address security, which made our collaboration practices not only better but also safer.”

SADA conducted security workshops with PPFA, collaborating closely on HIPAA implications, access controls, data loss prevention, and endpoint configurations. The aim was to enable collaboration while creating a more secure and private environment.

To enhance the already robust security for PPFA, SADA conducted a thorough review of their Google Drive and Google Groups usage and settings. This was part of a more comprehensive security assessment aimed at enhancing secure data sharing and access. SADA also helped reinforce PPFA’s data loss prevention and context-aware access strategies that reinforce and further prevent unauthorized sharing of sensitive information across the organization. This resulted in increased security awareness at PPFA and helped optimize Google Workspace for safer virtual operations.

Testing interoperability capabilities

For interoperability with affiliates in the federated structure, PPFA, with SADA’s help, prioritized security and privacy, focused on flexibility, and tested interoperability capabilities. PPFA shared frameworks and successes, offering optional paths for affiliates to adopt at their own pace, while still enabling effective collaboration across the federation.

Strategic importance was placed on deploying connectors for Nectari and Salesforce to achieve immediate value and build momentum. These integrations directly benefited core business functions such as reporting and fundraising, reinforcing PPFA’s long-term cloud-first philosophy.

Impact

As a result of working with SADA on their Google Workspace transformation, PPFA obtained significant, measurable outcomes and qualitative improvements:

• Annual cost savings: SADA identified a path to reduce annual costs for significant efficiencies for PPAA due to simplification, fewer tools, clearer workflows, and improved security. This reduction was part of an ongoing shift to a more unified cloud-first ecosystem, not just a one-time cost-cutting exercise.
• Enhanced user experience and productivity: Staff reported faster approvals, easier file discovery, and improved cross-team communication. Satisfaction with collaboration tools rose significantly due to better training and increased confidence in the tools.
• Cultural shift and digital fluency: The project fostered a cultural shift where technology became an enabler rather than a blocker. Staff gained confidence using cloud tools for meetings, project management, and automating tasks. Digital fluency transformed from a buzzword into a reality, with teams making smarter choices about workflows, version history, and connected sheets.
• Improved user education and awareness: The transformation elevated user awareness of how Google Workspace can make work easier, faster, and more secure. Through targeted training, tailored onboarding, and just-in-time resources, PPFA brought tech adoption to its already active learning culture. White-glove sessions for executives, quick-tip campaigns, and an ambassador program cascaded knowledge to staff, leading to greater digital competency. 
• Increased visibility and data-driven decisions: By consolidating platforms and improving data visibility, PPFA gained real-time insight into team operations, document workflows, and tool usage to make smarter, faster decisions. SADA helped build dashboards and reporting mechanisms to track collaboration patterns, identify license redundancies, and pinpoint areas for training or automation. 

Strategic relationship and future innovation: The engagement was a true strategic relationship, with SADA acting as a trusted adviser and collaborative solution provider. This collaborative spirit fostered trust, increased adoption, and created momentum for long-term change. “PPFA views SADA as a key technology ally, increasing the likelihood of future engagements as we continue to evolve our digital workspace, expand automation, and explore advanced capabilities like Gemini AI,” says Spyrou.