Terrific that there is finally a comprehensive effort to tackle these issues head-on. I am wondering how the partnership among the seven large organizations is actually operationalized. The core of this initiative seems to be the large-scale conference. How are the participants' involved in the planning of the conference? Have you been able to extend the networking activities and the issues-sessions beyond the actual conference (always a challenge)? Are you tracking the engagement of participants in NSF over time-as proposal readers, proposal submitters, etc.

If you haven't already, I would suggest you talk to the folks at CADRE (cadre.org) who have experience in running an NSF capacity building fellowship for early career STEM education researchers and developers. Some of their successes (and failures!) might be useful. Full disclosure: In my prior life, I was PI of CADRE and developer of the fellowship program.

This focus on creating a network and community of support is so critical! I love the focus of this project. I'm curious about what lessons you have learned over the course of implementing this work. For other organizations and communities interested in better supporting underrepresented groups of individuals as they transition out of STEM degree programs and into careers, what can you share that can help their developing efforts? What guidance or advice would you provide?

Gary thanks for the detailed response to my comments above. Early career scholars, researchers and developers could have benefited from your effort in the past. I LOVE what you're doing, and will follow it over time.

I enjoyed watching your video and thank you for sharing your work. The ASSIST program sounds like a wonderful opportunity for supporting early career engineering faculty. What kind of evidence do you collect to understand the success or impacts of the model? The graphic in the video helped to illustrate the ASSIST model and I'm curious, are you conducting any type of network analysis to understand the evolution of the network or structures, connections, etc. that develop as a result of the CoP?

Thank you for sharing your program - this sounds like an excellent program for supporting early career faculty in engineering, and I really like the way you've engaged this group of professional societies. I am a PI of an NSF-funded program called Sparks for Change (https://scied.ucar.edu/soars/sparks) which is aimed at supporting diverse early career faculty in the geosciences, and I certainly see some overlap in what we're doing and learning. I'm wondering what your research and experience is showing you to be the most valuable part(s) of your program? I also wonder what you are doing to keep your participants connected and engaged beyond the workshops?