CSSP is honored to announce that Tom Connelly, the CEO of the American Chemical Society (ACS) has accepted our invitation to guide the CSSP Chat on Mergers, Collaborations, and Strategic Alliances/Partnerships - Which One, When on Thursday, September 15th from 12:30 - 1:30 pm Eastern. This session is free for members of CSSP member societies. There is a nominal fee of $25 US for non-members.

Register here.

Our August CSSP Chat on Ensuring Diversity and Equity in STEM, led by Dr. Beronda Montogmery, brought to light many valuable ideas and thought processes around these issues. Introducing the idea gatekeeping or groundskeeping prompted lively discussion on ways to expand diversity through the cultivation and enactment of leadership philosophies and progressive vision rather than just looking at "skills and tactics." More information about this philosophy can be found in Dr. Montgomery's paper on "Academic Leadership: Gatekeeping or Groundskeeping?" published in the Journal of Values Based Leadership.

This timely conversation also included thoughts for ways in which to communicate how each society presents their culture to both current and future members. Included in those thoughts were:

• Evaluating your society on its three “R’s” – Representation, Reputation, Resources
• Easy to embrace definitions - Diversity: being invited to the party. Inclusion: being asked to dance.
• When considering diversity within your society, it's important to look beyond just the "numbers" and look to the practices and experiences that are lived and espoused as well.
• Consideration for the language used when talking about these issues can also have a strong impact. An article on rethinking underrepresented language helps to see the influence that the language we use has on the way we see and are seen.
• How and what to include in surveys to aid in garnering greater and more honest participation from members.

The CSSP Chats create an opportunity to talk with other leaders of science societies about the challenges and goals being faced by all, and to hear and share experiences for how they have been and are being addressed - including successes and failures. Our next Chat will be on the topic of Managing Personal Transitions: Leadership Skills and your next job and will be presented on Thursday, September 17th at 12:30 pm ET.

CSSP Chat April 2020: The CARES Act - Provisions, Protections & Process

Thursday, April 16th 12:30 pm EDT

Due to the changes happening as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic the Council of Scientific Society Presidents (CSSP) has changed the topic for our next CSSP Chat. The value in improving collective understanding around the CARES Act passed by Congress last month, and being able to share what we have learned with you seemed to be a much more timely subject for this Chat. In our search to identify moderators who can help us all better understand this legislation we are pleased that Amir Eyal, CEO of Mylestone Plans, a financial services organization with a strong division focused on the needs of the nonprofit community, and Jennifer Shieh, Chief Scientist in the Office of Investment & Innovation with the Small Business Administration have accepted our invitation to moderate our April 16th CSSP Chat at 12:30 pm EDT: The CARES Act - Provisions, Protections and Process. 

CSSP is pleased to share that Scott Cotenoff of La Piana Consulting will moderate "Mergers, collaborations, and strategic alliances/partnerships - which one, when?" on Thursday, March 19, 2020 from 12:30-1:30 PM EDT.

CSSP Chat Schedule for 2020: