The Steering Committee has been working hard to create a tangible framework for the continuation of our community beyond foundational funding. In 2025, we selected the current Steering Committee and got to work.
Last year we accomplished a lot together!
- Began grants research
- Decided on new name
- Decided on fiscal sponsor
- Decided on new newsletter platform
- Began taking over monthly newsletter creation
The Committee also landed on some main goals for the future of our network.
Funding
- Funding for future projects
- Fiscal sponsor
- Mutual aid framework
- Other modes of fundraising, collective investment?
Connection
- How can we stay connected? What makes a network?
- Website
- Social media
- Newsletter
- Meetups
- What are our network’s core values and identity?
- How can we engage more of the network?
Governance
- Managing contact information
- Digital security
- Leadership opportunities
- Processes for leadership transitions
- Engaging more of the network
- Longevity & sustainability
As a group, we also ran into some friction points.
Engagement
- This is not a job for 4 volunteers.
- Looking for funding is a particularly heavy ask that requires skill.
- Our capacity fluctuated throughout the year, but there was no one else to pass labor to.
- Misalignment in alumni’s interest and engagement for network programming
Connection
- What is essential to keeping a national group of people engaged in big and small ways?
- Do alumni have capacity to take on regional ambassador roles?
- How do we connect people across so many various platforms?
- Cohorts have different group chats, websites, email lists, social media accounts etc.
- How can we centralize these without overwhelming or confusing alumni?
- How do we keep updated on everyone’s location and contact info?
Our main goals for 2026 are:
- Steering Committee to take on more active role in day to day network communications
- Design new logo!
- Design new website
- Archive current website
- Onboard additional Steering Committee members
- Find funding opportunities
- Host regional meetups
- Retire job board
You can get involved in several ways this year.
- We are especially looking for alumni who have interest and skills in web design and grant writing!
- Alumni-hosted regional meetups & webinars are always welcome.
If you have an idea for how you'd like to get involved and support the continuation of our thriving community, please reach out to Sydney@elpnet.org. And if your cohort is doing something cool to stay connected that you think the entire network should hear about, please share!