Greetings IAGD Family!

As most of you know, on October 29 I took over the role of Executive Director of the International Association for Geoscience Diversity. I am honored and humbled to move into this new role. Leading the IAGD is certainly not something I can do on my own and I will be relying on all of you, the IAGD community, to continue to build an organization that supports and empowers everyone working towards a more accessible geoscience discipline. As my first official duty as Executive Director, I’d like to announce the start of our annual fundraising season.

Our Fundraising Goals

Last year we raised $8,000 to meet a generous matching grant. This was a great result in 2020, and we are aiming higher this year. We would like to raise $10,000 to support our scholarships and activities. The IAGD is a 501-c3 non-profit that is entirely volunteer run. Every dollar of your donation goes directly to keeping our organization running and providing community support. All donations to the IAGD are tax deductible. When you donate to the IAGD, you are supporting unglamorous things like maintaining the website and booth fees for conferences. And…

Your donations support wonderful things like:

• Our new Student Pathways Scholarships. This year we had funds to support eight $500 grants to offset the extra costs for disabled geoscience students to thrive in academic settings.  We would love to offer more money to more students!
• Accessible Field Trips. Annual trips are offered in conjunction with the GSA Annual meeting at no cost to participants. These unique experiences function as both training for instructors on best practices for inclusive field trips, and a powerful community-building event for geoscience students, faculty, professionals and retirees with disabilities.
• The IGER Award for Inclusive Teaching Practices. This award recognizes instructors or professionals that exemplify accessible and inclusive educational practices. This year we have our first student winner, Annie Klyce from the University of South Carolina. Congratulations, Annie!

There is so much more we would like to be able to do, but we need your support!

Here are some of the ways you can help:

• Donate on our website by clicking on the Donate button in the header menu on the IAGD website, or go directly to our PayPal page. Every dollar helps, and we will recognize those donating more than $100 in an email blast and on social media (with donor’s permission of course).
• Buy IAGD merchandise from our Teespring Shop.
• If you are not already supporting a charity on Amazon Smile, choose us as your non-profit to support during your holiday shopping.
• Partner with us on a workshop, field trip or other activity that promotes inclusive geoscience education practices.
• Donate your time by volunteering – we are always in need of extra help, from clerical work to social media management.

Regardless how or if you choose to donate, you can help by sharing our fundraising campaign online or with friends to help us reach more people.

Thanks for your support, IAGD community – let’s make this a great fundraising year!

Anita Marshall, IAGD Executive Director