Earth Science Women’s Network Strategic Plan

Approved by Leadership Board January 30, 2014

Mission:  To increase the diversity of the earth science workforce and community and improve the retention of women in earth science professions by promoting career development, building community, providing opportunities for mentoring and support, and facilitating professional collaborations.

Rationale:  The Earth Science Women’s Network (ESWN) is a peer-mentoring network of women in the earth sciences, many of whom are in the early stages of their careers.  Founded in 2002, our mission is to promote career development, build community, provide opportunities for informal mentoring and support, and facilitate professional collaborations.  As of fall 2013, we have more than 1600 members working in a range of fields related to earth science at large research universities, small liberal-arts colleges, government agencies, research organizations and the private sector in the U.S. and abroad.  Membership has grown through grass-roots member networking and includes upper-level undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, junior and senior academic faculty and staff, professionals in the nonprofit and private sectors, and scientists working in federal and state governments.

Challenges:  The ESWN Leadership Board has been working over the past several years to develop a vision for a dynamic and sustainable future for ESWN.  Establishing ESWN as a formal non-profit organization will allow us to expand our ability to serve the evolving needs of women in the geoscience community.  As a non-profit entity, ESWN will secure the autonomy to pursue diverse funding sources to support our current activities, develop new projects, and be able to respond in a nimble and adaptable fashion to future needs of our community.  Specifically, the non-profit designation will open new avenues to support the ESWN webcenter (www.ESWNonline.org), our successful professional development workshops and networking events, and it will allow us to launch new activities and initiatives.

Management Structure:  The current ESWN management structure includes a 10-member Leadership Board with a flat management structure.  Past funding opportunities were initiated by individual board members.  The transition to a non-profit structure will retain the existing Leadership Board and develop an Executive Director position when funding allows.  The Executive Director will report to the board and manage funding and related activities.  The future composition of the Leadership Board will be adaptable as the needs of the organization evolve.

Past activities:  With support from the U.S. National Science Foundation (ADVANCE PAID award 0929830, 2009-2013), the ESWN has developed a portfolio of professional development workshops, launched a new web center to enhance online connections and collaborations for and among women in the earth sciences, and increased dissemination of our findings related to our activities.  Annual networking events are held at the fall American Geophysical Union and spring European Geophysical Union meetings.  ESWN members organize informal gatherings in their local communities as well as at most major national and international meetings.  Several international ESWN networking events were organized in 2013, including events in Malaysia, Norway, Germany, and Austria, highlighting the growing global impact of the ESWN.  We have partnered with the American Geophysical Union, the European Geosciences Union, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and the Association of Women in Science to increase the impact of our activities and reach a broad and international geoscience audience.

Proposed Activities:  Non-profit status for the ESWN would allow us the flexibility to pursue a diversity of resources to maintain current activities and develop new opportunities for our members, as outlined below.  First we identify imperative activities, which are immediate priorities for the organization and are necessary for the long-term sustainability of the ESWN.  Next we propose frontier ideas, which are potential future initiatives that the ESWN is interested in undertaking after the organization reaches its non-profit status and has begun fundraising activities.  The prioritization of these and other activities will be determined by the ESWN Leadership Board in response to needs of the membership and other opportunities.

Imperative Activities

  1. Attain non-profit status (a registered 501c)
    • Fees for filing non-profit status, including attorney fees
    • Sustain regular maintenance of our web center and updates as needed
  2. Complete information architecture and organize website content
    • Establish annual maintenance contract with Vernal, a consulting group with whom we developed the current site
  3. Host annual networking events at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting and the European Geosciences Union Meeting
  4. Meeting venue reservation fees and light food

Frontier Activities

  1.  Host professional development 2.5 day workshops to empower women geoscientists (each estimated $50-65,000, depending on institutional support).   Topics developed under the NSF ADVANCE award (Defining Your Research Identity, Skills for Networking & Communication, Building Leadership and Management Skills for Success)
  2. Host professional development mini-workshops (each estimated at $3000).   Topics developed under the NSF ADVANCE award (Navigating the NSF, Succeeding on the Tenure Track, Managing Field Research Campaigns, The OpEd Project)
  3. Develop and offer new professional development workshops. Topics under discussion: Science Communication, Teaching Across Genders
  4. Develop and offer new training workshops for administrators on best practices to promote and retain women scientists
  5. Hire an administrative staff member to support ESWN’s activities and fundraising
  6. Provide small grant support to ESWN members and/or another person to travel to conferences and help with childcare support
  7. Provide seed grants to our members to develop new initiatives that advance the goals of ESWN
  8. Provide travel grants for our members to visit other institutions and give research talks, promote their careers, and reach more diverse audiences
  9. Hire an Executive Director to develop new initiatives and lead fundraising efforts
  10. Support training workshops for female postdoctoral scientists in Europe and other parts of the world to build community and empower women globally
  11. Develop new outreach programs to reach high school and undergraduate women interested in the geosciences

A pdf of the Strategic Plan is available for download here:  ESWN strategic plan Jan 30 2014