On July 16th, the GLC Alumni Network gathered virtually (but with the volume of an in-person party) to celebrate the graduation of its pilot Virtual Fellowship Program ‘Building People Power for Social and Environmental Justice‘. Vladislav Petkov (Bulgaria, Fall 2013) opened the ceremony by marking a full-circle moment: exactly one year earlier, the GLC Alumni Advisory Board had decided not to let the community go, even after institutional funding was withdrawn. Twelve months of curriculum-building, recruiting, and a fair amount of faith later, 20 candidates were invited to join the program in February 2026, 16 of them started it and 13 crossed the finish line together.

Elizabeth Balint, as an honorary member of the Board, welcomed the new graduates into a network of more than 450 organizers and leaders spanning Central and Eastern Europe and the US, reminding everyone that this community "did not come together by chance." The ceremony than ran through a packed agenda of fellow reflections, trainer shout-outs, and mentor tributes, all ran smoothly and with warmth by the event moderator Shirin Hodzheva (Bulgaria, Fall 2022).

The event closed with words from Leah Torrey (she contributed to the program as a trainer and a mentor), who reminded fellows that organizing means moving from isolation into community. She left the cohort with a simple image to carry forward: that every person they help organize alongside is "a little drop of hope" for the road ahead. Certificates went out in the chat, toasts were raised across two continents and - as Vladi put it - this was not an ending, just the newest chapter of the alumni community.

As always, recording of the event is available upon request to Vladi at [email protected].

From March to July 2026, the GLC Alumni Network ran its very first Virtual Fellowship Program, "Building People Power for Social and Environmental Justice" - a fully virtual, 25+ hour journey through community organizing for grassroots leaders from Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia. The format was ambitious for a first go: five training sessions on the fundamentals of organizing, four praxis groups for reflecting on local context, and one-on-one mentoring with a US-based organizer, all before fellows graduated into the wider 450+ member alumni community. To make this happen, 10 trainers and facilitators and 13 mentors volunteered their time, while many others provided support and advise in the background, highlighting the strength of our network.

What stuck with fellows wasn't so much the theory, but the relationships. As Antoaneta Toncheva (Bulgaria) put it, "I didn't know that 'power over' and 'power with' are truly different things." Monica Jitariuc (Romania, Virtual Fellowship 2026) came in expecting a program about protest and charity, and left calling organizing "the power and the craft to turn loneliness into power". Dóra Uhrin-Somogyi (Hungary, Virtual Fellowship 2026)* summed up a lesson many echoed: that organizing "is not always about telling people what I want to do; it's about listening more to the people".

Thirtheen fellows graduated this cohort: social workers, communicators, a molecular geneticist, a cultural manager, and more. Each was paired with a US mentor and each walking away with a concrete follow-up idea for their community. Want the full lineup, complete with mentors, bios, and program highlights? The Virtual FP 2026 Cohort Newsletter has all 13 fellow profiles waiting for you.

We would like to thank all fellows, trainers, facilitators and advisors who volunteered their time and energy to make this program happen! Special thanks to all members of our alumni community who supported the communication and recruitment campaign, as a result of which we could select this inspiring cohort of fellows!

Finally, thank you to all the individuals and organisations who supported our 2025/2026 fundraising campaign: this program would not have happened without your contribution! If you want to see more programs happening in the future, please consider donating.

During the graduation ceremony on July 16th, Michael Tierney, a founder of the Step by Step community center in West Virginia and mentor to Dóra Uhrin-Somogyi (Hungary, Virtual Fellowship 2026) presented an idea that had the chat buzzing: a recurring, cross-border forum for people doing community-center and education-adjacent organizing. Inspired by his mentoring experience, Michael proposed bringing organizers together roughly twice a year - starting this October - to compare notes on questions like how to help teens take real ownership of projects, how to keep seniors engaged, and how to build safe spaces across generational and geographic lines. If this sounds like your kind of thing, reach out to Vladi ([email protected]) to get looped in.

Proof that our network doesn't stop organizing: three organizations founded by Bulgarian GLC alumni - Impact Drive (Sofia), Teen Spirit (Chepelare), and SEED (Samokov) - have joined forces on a new initiative, "Values in Action: Youth Democracy." Launched in April, the project takes the team's existing "Values in Action" training program, developed by Theodora Ivanova-Valeva (Fall 2022), Katerina Stoyanova (Spring 2025), and Cafer Saatçı (Fall 2019), and adapts it for young people aged 15–29 across the twons of Chepelare and Samokov with the goal of helping local youth parliaments become real decision-making bodies.

On July 30th Bulgarian alumni gathered virtually to talk about developments and summer plans, but also through look at the methodological design of this youth program and give feedback.

The collaboration brings together a genuine cross-section of the network: Georgi Nikolov (Spring 2018), Nevena Pashova-Proycheva (Spring 2015), Milena Karieva (Spring 2025), Kostadin Belenozov (Spring 2023), Ivet Ivanova (Virtual 2026), along with the already mentioned Theodora Ivanova-Valeva, Cafer Saatçı and Katerina Stoyanova.

This is exactly the kind of alumni-driven, cross-generational project our network exists to spark. Read more about the project here.

Highlights from Central and Eastern Europe in the last month, as curated by our Political Task Force:

The Alliance for Gender Equality in Europe is launching an open call for proposals for 2 700 000 euros. The objective of this call is to foster collaboration and solidarity within European intersectional and grassroots movements so that they can collectively advance gender equality in Europe in the long-term. Coalitions of at least 3 civil society organisations are expected, working locally, nationally or internationally.

Deadline for submissions: 7 August 2026

Through €2 million Building Narrative Power programme, The European AI & Society Fund is offering grants of up to €150,000 for organisations across Europe to build the narrative power of communities, and develop and test narrative strategies around three areas where AI’s impacts are most keenly felt: data centres, jobs and young people’s lives.

Deadline for submissions: 31 August 2026

Funding is oriented towards NGO, charities, universities and not-for-profit organisations that are active in the areas of environmental protection, nutrition and health improvement, WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene), as well as STEM education. No geographical limitations. The grant request can not exceed €25,000 and represent more than 25% of the costs of a project.

Deadline for submissions: 1 September 2026