- UPCOMING EVENTS -
JOIN US AS A SPEAKER: Using AI for Non-Profits
📆 Thursday, April 23rd 2026
🇪🇺 4 pm CET / 5 pm Eastern European🇺🇸 10 am Eastern / 9 am Central
We are planning an event for using AI for non-profits and we are looking for speakers. We are looking for good practices, tricks, tips and ideas on the possibilities and limitations of using AI for non-profits. If you have them and are willing to share them with our community, sign up:
- NEWS FROM THE PROGRAM -
We are launching the Virtual Fellowship program 2026
After a successful recruitment campaign, we are now onboarding 22 new fellows, who will take part in our Virtual Fellowship program 2026 “Building people power for social and environmental justice”.
The group represents all of our five target countries in Central and Eastern Europe: Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. It is both female-dominated and very focused on women’s rights, but many other topics are also on the table, especially environmental issues, youth issues, issues of disability and healthcare.
The group wil first get together this March 5th for its introduction session and will then spend the next couple of months learning, acting, reflecting, working with a mentor and making change in their community.
Welcome to the GLC Alumni Network family!
Two meetings in February in preparation for the Virtual Fellowhsip
Accompanying the recruitment and preparation phase of our Virtual Fellowship Program 2026, we organized two online meetings in February:
On February 5th 2026, we organised an info session for potential candidates of the Virtual Fellowship program 2026. During the session, the fellowship program was presented in detail, including its goals, structure, and detailed calendar. Alumni from previous editions and program mentors joined the conversation to share their first-hand experiences, lessons learned, and the impact the fellowship has had on their work.
On February 12th 2026, we organized an orientation meeting for potential trainers, facilitators, speakers and mentors in the Virtual Fellowship program 2026. The meeting served to present the program, collect feedback and collect commitments from interested contributors. More than 20 people from across our community are expected to voluntarily contribute to the virtual program in different capacities. Endless gratitude to them!
The community has spoken: “Grassroots Leaders for Change” most popular GLC name
We wanted to keep the abbreviation GLC, which is so dear to us all and well-known across our community: it is now part of our identity. Yet, the original Great Lakes Consortium no longer makes total sense in the current situation. This is why we launched a consultation last month and 48 people from our community made themselves heard across different platforms. The majority of them (around 46%) thought that the best fit for the GLC abbreviation is the slogan “Grassroots Leaders for Change”. Do you agree? You can still vote, if you have not yet, here:
A small gathering discussed the ups and downs of freelancing
The first meeting of the Support group for freelancers took place on February 16th 2026. While it did not attact a big crowd, the gathering allowed for an honest and helpful conversations about the challenges and joys of freelancing, exchanging life situations, useful tools, work-life balance, concentration tips and more! We also agreed that this type of conversations are useful enough and we would love to keep them going. Reach out to Vladi ([email protected]) if you would be interested to join in the future.
- FUNDRAISING -
You’re the “Star Witness” About Money and Where it Counts!
By Elizabeth (Liza) L. Sammons
Hello! For those of us who have been historically involved in the Professional Fellows Program, this is especially for you…. From me, the accidental fundraiser.
It began with a fateful call in late summer, 2017 from our Elizabeth (Balint) asking if I had ideas on placing two blindness professionals. Of course, I told her yes… who can say no to our Elizabeth, after all… But I had absolutely no idea at that time just how much this one “yes” would change my life.
I feel a keen sense of wonder, looking back at the last nine years of hosting, mentoring, traveling to reunions and expanding my family of GLC friends and colleagues. All this didn’t happen by itself, it took diligent planning, work, networking and most importantly, a sense of love and of the importance of what we do, as we help each other become stronger together.
During and after my US hosting and mentoring, I involved other Americans in my projects, which was in fact necessary, since I don’t drive. I also talked with almost all my friends and family about what the experiences meant, both to myself and to the Central Europeans I hosted or mentored. I enjoyed bringing back both memories and gifts for such US friends from our reunions, and well, I didn’t tell them everything, (and you’d better not either,) but I helped them appreciate how important the communications and experiences are in changing democracies, including the US democracy.
Resulting from these years of sharing, two of my US friends became major donors. It doesn’t hurt to remind our friends, along with sharing our own experiences, about the power of our GLC Alumni Network as a group of 450+ community organizers, civil activists and leaders, working to advance social and environmental justice in Central and Eastern Europe, and the US, providing networking, mutual support and professional development opportunities.
I’ve become a little braver now asking for help, with the reductions in funding since last year. It really isn’t hard to be a star witness when you have a changed life and expanded world view to speak about with friends and family who trust you.
Sometimes people want their money to “travel” further. This is why it may be a good idea to consider setting up some matching funding or competitions. These can be small or large, depending on the people involved. Most importantly, remember, you’re the star witness if you’ve ever been involved in our GLC family. The truth we have to share, the people who may be looking for humanitarian ways to actually invest their hard-earned money, and for Americans, the tax implications of such donations can light opportunities to keep our torch shining bright.
Our list of donors up until now:
- CALL TO ACTION -
DEMOCRACY IN MOTION: A Call to Action and Collaboration from United Vision for Idaho
By Adrienne Evans, GLC mentor and director of United Vision for Idaho
We know that this moment - like every pivotal moment in history - will require a sustained, mass movement of millions of regular people taking action in every way, however small or large. It always has. And it will again, to meet not only this moment, but the ones that come after.
Since November 2023, United Vision for Idaho (UVI) has been working with OMG Female Productions to shed light on the pro democracy movement taking shape across the United States and the globe - often in overlooked gatherings of movement leaders, some known, many unknown, yet all vital to the fabric of this moment.
But while the movement is growing, too few feel truly seen, included, invited, or essential to the way this story unfolds.
So what is this movement we’re being asked to join? And more importantly - how do we show what democracy looks like in our towns, communities, and states?
This project is precisely that kind of invitation: to tell a collective story of resistance and renewal through real submissions - voices, footage, and everyday acts - from people doing the work to build and defend democracy. Whether big or small, these actions matter. They are how we rise together to meet a moment defined by both threat and possibility.
The film explores the complex dynamics of this emerging movement through real world examples, powerful interviews, sharp commentary, and the lived experiences of regular people across the country. It doesn’t just document the crisis - it amplifies the courage, creativity, and community driven solutions taking shape in real time.
At its heart, this project is a call to action and a call to belonging. It's an opportunity to be part of something larger than ourselves: a growing, breathing, people powered movement for democracy. This story is still being written and it needs all of us.
Share your story. Submit your footage. Be part of a collective documentary series that captures the courage, creativity, and everyday acts of people rising up to protect our democracy - one step, one voice at a time.
This movement needs millions. It needs YOU.
- FUNDING POSSIBILITIES -
(EUROPE) Connecting the dots: Linking economic, gender and climate justice to tackle global challenges
A call for projects, actively engaging more people in Europe, particularly young people, in mobilisation and advocacy for economic, gender and climate justice as interconnected solutions that contribute to sustainable development and tackle global challenges, at both local and global levels.
Applicants may submit proposals for one of the following-categories of sub-grants:
Macro grant: €40,000-€60,000, up to 18 months duration, including at least 3 types of activities from the eligible list above.
Meso grant: €20,000-€35,000, up to 18 months duration, including at least 2 types of activities from the eligible list.
Micro grant: €5,000-€15,000, up to 12 months duration, and for specific actions or a series of activities within one type (ex. a series of workshops or awareness raising actions)
The deadline for submitting proposals is March 26th 2026.
- MEME OF THE MONTH -
What is your favorite Bad Bunny meme?
Operations in the US are currently handled by The World Affairs Council of Northwest Ohio, acting as a fiscal agent and grant manager.
