How are you all doing? I hope you are healthy and managing in these difficult times. Here are some NGCP updates and I look forward to reconnecting with many of you at our next Community meeting! Collaborative Community Meetings: We would like to begin our regular monthly meetings. Please indicate your availability on this Doodle poll<https://doodle.com/poll/tmdwfumm7txar465> for our first meeting in late September/early October. And, please include in the notes of the Poll or send me an email re regular meetings you have to avoid. I would love to set these up as the "first Monday" or "second Tuesday" etc. beginning in November. IF/THEN Collection Launch: As you know, NGCP has been working for the past year with Lyda Hill Philanthropies and the Association of Science and Technology Centers<https://www.facebook.com/ScienceCenters/?__tn__=K-R&eid=ARAe9JX1hbQqr2GF6olWqRrcD7SseKE_i1Xs58sNMoR6wm7Lsx1cQKz_U_0dQuShyjEcryT0BFOBEi5u&fref=mentions&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARAooVjefUpfqY1vgUVviIHZDhI4LTCNnMNSNbY9uj_1MHfAu00lTJZ8QMeiVnRKM5Byo4iSmfLxx8OwYVu-uB8GGTB_6mNqMVb5beZArhrqdCIEu1GZVWvEJzBUUrdF-gkitVX3U_s1RwXGUIIqIUellsf6df03eHETehSnjxrYKs3iYAdo8L8EQap4DCy89PHEJQ5EH30dGGc6DSMtpw-uWDDH6ha_YjZeG8HNzSviDCRfuRuEFSy0ZKT-UeLqpNBxAO2nzYAQ51-wQja3q2bAu4Rmh4F8Sb_xi1sjsqaK2XJYcqgHp7dfU1PK5M6wjaub0liyHJ2azAT-eEGCzWgkFg> to help bring to life this free, online library of real #WomenInSTEM<https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/womeninstem?__eep__=6&source=feed_text&epa=HASHTAG&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARAooVjefUpfqY1vgUVviIHZDhI4LTCNnMNSNbY9uj_1MHfAu00lTJZ8QMeiVnRKM5Byo4iSmfLxx8OwYVu-uB8GGTB_6mNqMVb5beZArhrqdCIEu1GZVWvEJzBUUrdF-gkitVX3U_s1RwXGUIIqIUellsf6df03eHETehSnjxrYKs3iYAdo8L8EQap4DCy89PHEJQ5EH30dGGc6DSMtpw-uWDDH6ha_YjZeG8HNzSviDCRfuRuEFSy0ZKT-UeLqpNBxAO2nzYAQ51-wQja3q2bAu4Rmh4F8Sb_xi1sjsqaK2XJYcqgHp7dfU1PK5M6wjaub0liyHJ2azAT-eEGCzWgkFg&__tn__=%2ANK-R>. Photos and videos are accessible for anyone to view and stream for non-commercial use. The IF/THEN Collection is designed to shift cultural perceptions of scientists and to inspire a future generation of girls to pursue their STEM dreams. https://ifthencollection.org/<https://ifthencollection.org/?fbclid=IwAR2wYsLa3twJRqkmxUU_BwC-l2iBBvhxKpOyIbDSO4cAQL8Wn3BctLDR8Vs> Soon, NGCP will be asking you for input regarding how you might use these resources and additional assets and collaborations that will benefit our NGCP community. New NGCP Staff: We have hired new staff over the past few months. They will be joining upcoming meetings so you will have an opportunity to meet them. * Marisa Garcia <https://ngcproject.org/marisa-garcia> , Senior Program Developer. Marisa is developing and leading NGCP Webinars. See past and upcoming webinars here<https://ngcproject.org/resources/webinararchive>. Marisa is also a talented curriculum developer and helping to create and adapt curriculum for several of our network projects. * Katarina Lucas<https://ngcproject.org/katarina-lucas>, Senior Project Manager. Katarina has an extensive background in gender research and policy. She managed our Brite summer project and will be involved in several new Fall projects you will be hearing about soon. * Kelly Reina<https://ngcproject.org/kelly-reina>, Manager of the Girls Advisory Board. (And check out our very active Girls Advisory Board<https://ngcproject.org/girls-advisory-board>!) * Nekita Sisk<https://ngcproject.org/nekita-sisk>, Technical Project Manager. We are planning upgrades to our websites and databases, including launching a new NGCP website in early 2021, and Nekita will be supporting Jolene Gustafson, Director of Digital, in this work. NGCP Collaboration with the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO): At the request of Congress, the U.S. GAO is working on a study to identify efforts by financial and insurance industry firms to support women's participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs. Additionally, we are looking to identify financial and insurance industry firms' best practices for recruiting and retaining women with STEM backgrounds. We would appreciate your distributing and completing this survey: https://tell.gao.gov/womenstem/. Reinvented Magazine: NGCP is entering into a distribution partnership with the wonderful magazine<https://www.reinventedmagazine.com/>, and will be asking you if you would like hard copies to distribute to programs in your area. We realize this may be challenging over the next several months, but if you have ideas for groups that would benefit, please send along your thoughts. Thanks for the work you are all doing to support girls in STEM! Karen Karen Peterson, Founder & Chief Executive Officer The National Girls Collaborative and The Connectory @ngcproject @kpeterson Pronouns: she, her, hers