In its eighth year as an organization, Engineers & Scientists Acting Locally is launching its first Strategic Plan. The three-year plan sets network engagement, organizational capacity, and brand awareness priorities that will support ESAL’s expanding audiences, established and developing partnerships, and evolving opportunities for local civic engagement across the United States.
ESAL’s founders created the nonprofit to raise awareness of the need for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) expertise in local decision-making and to help fill knowledge and network gaps for people with backgrounds in STEM wanting to use their experience and expertise to impact their local community. Since 2017, people of all ages and career stages have turned to ESAL for insight and training to be effective when engaging at state, municipal, city, neighborhood, and campus levels. With this strategic plan, ESAL clarifies its role as a connector of individuals with STEM backgrounds, science policy and STEM networks, and local decision makers and change makers.
For the next three years, ESAL will invest in governance, diversified funding, and increased support staff to ensure that the volunteer-run organization continues to be a viable part of the science policy, STEM, and local civic engagement ecosystems. ESAL will increase conference, content, and event offerings and evolve how we tailor training for different audiences. ESAL will explore expanded engagement with audiences in the technology sector and in mid- to late-career stages. ESAL will also explore effective strategies for embedding local civics engagement training in STEM programs at universities and colleges. ESAL will continue to engage in and to cultivate science policy and STEM sector-wide strategic partnerships and conversations to contribute to a broader civic culture in communities across the country.
ESAL Founder and Chair Arti Garg, PhD said:
“Local governments and communities are confronted every day with decisions that are STEM-related. And, almost universally, engineers and scientists that I meet express that a key motivation for pursuing a career in STEM was to make a difference in the world around them. Still, many of us with STEM training do not know how to get involved nor are we encouraged or incentivized to contribute to our local communities. ESAL works to change that by motivating, training, and connecting individuals to a broader network of people showing up to serve their communities.”
ESAL audiences can follow updates and opportunities by visiting the website, signing up for the monthly newsletter, and following ESAL on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and X. Potential partners and supporters of ESAL’s strategic priorities should email the managing director, Taylor Spicer, at taylor@esal.us.
About ESAL
Engineers & Scientists Acting Locally (ESAL) is a registered 501(c)3 organization that is volunteer-led and -run. Our team members work together remotely across the United States to enact our mission to increase local civic engagement by people with backgrounds in STEM. ESAL envisions a future where all individuals with backgrounds in STEM can utilize both their expertise and their lived experience to actively engage in civic life.
ESAL is committed to the belief that equity requires that leadership and decision-making bodies reflect and represent the people impacted by their actions. When civic participants can identify with the people in their government, it is more likely that they will find inspiration and opportunities to serve. Therefore, ESAL carefully considers diversity in all of our content and programming and strives to feature people from all geographic backgrounds, at every career stage, with expertise across the breadth of STEM disciplines, having differing abilities, and who have a diverse set of identities, including racial, ethnic, religious, cultural, gender, and sexual orientation.
