Hello & Happy Friday NP World – Y’all GOOD?
My name is Sarah (they/them), and I’ve been the person pulling the levers behind the November Project Global socials and blog since February of this year. My signature line reads “Social Media Coordinator” but I like to think of myself as a community connector, elevator, and celebrator.
Since I first came to November Project Minneapolis back in 2018, I’ve loved following all the different cities – an experience that was taken to a whole new level when I became a Co-leader and got to meet the folks generating those great workout ideas, taking the pictures, creating the HYPE. Stepping into this role after being a part of the community for five years, I knew I wanted to do two things: celebrate the communities that we wake up with and the people that #JustShowUp. In the last 6 months, we’ve made a voice change that has started to do just that. It’s been a start – one I hope to build on as we continue on this journey together.
A few other things about me: I live in Minneapolis and retired from Co-leading here in June. I’m fat and queer, love being outside (shocking, I’m sure), and am what most would consider a “sports gay” in that I will play or watch any sport. I have several jobs and November Project is one of them. I also believe nothing I do for money is more important than showing up for the people in my life so my weekly chosen family dinners, helping cover childcare, or supporting someone in a hard moment will always take priority over anything else. The people in my life are the most important thing in my life.
And I share that last part because I want you to know about my sincere wish to show up for YOU. My primary motivation for stepping into this role was to make sure that all the members of the November Project global community feel seen and celebrated and sweaty. So when I say together – I really mean TOGETHER. Tell me what you want to see from NP, tell me what holidays you want to celebrate, tell me how I can feature you and your story with our global community. My line is open: sarahstuhr@november-project.com
Bojan’s here and signing checks and all that but I’m here to answer to YOU. I do not promise perfection but I do promise you my very best effort. This work comes directly from my heart. I love this community so much and it is truly my pleasure and my privilege to be trusted with this voice.
And now, onto the updates:
Today we share with you our 2023 Annual(ish) Report. Traditional Annual Reports have things like real statistics, concrete impact statements, and lots of numbers. Because this is our first and we don’t have any systems in place to track hard data (yet), we approached this from a lens of where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going. There’s a list of notable moments, an overview of NP staff, and a non-exhaustive list of things we’re currently working on. There’s an opportunity for you to give us feedback or ideas that come up while you’re reading but know we will also launch a larger survey toward the end of the year where you will have a chance to share more about yourself, your NP community, and your ideas/feedback/suggestions/etc.
And circling back to this blog post, here’s a few updates:
-DEI Committee: This committee is still influx as board members and Co-leaders transition. I (Sarah) will be the staff member on this committee and will partner with them on the end of year survey, in addition to a new Co-leader survey that we aim to launch at the same time (December 2023/January 2024). The end of year survey will seek community input on how November Project measures success and this committee will help establish that baseline and set goals for the year ahead.
-Supporting and Uplifting Co-leader & community voices all year long: We have an internal form in place where Co-leaders can share the cool events their city is hosting and will continue to work on being consistent in making sure these events are shared more widely on the global socials. Also in place for next year is a larger, yearly planning outlook to get these events on our radar earlier so more intentionality can go into spotlighting them, along with getting dates of global connection out to Co-leaders earlier (SunRiseK, Yearbook Album launch, etc).
-And the Annual-ish Report is here!
And that’s it for now! I hope to meet some of you at #NPSummit11 in Richmond (please say hi!), or in my inbox, or in the global DMs. I’m so excited to see where we’ll go, together.
Fuck Yeah,
Sarah
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So where are the financials in this report?
There’s a link on page 7 of the report!