- UPCOMING EVENTS -
Strategic consultation on the communication of the GLC Alumni Network
📆Wednesday, April 15th 2026
🇪🇺 3 pm CET / 4 pm Eastern European
🇺🇸 9 am Eastern / 8 am Central
Interested alumni members are invited to this group strategic conversation on the communication of the GLC Alumni Network. A lot has changed in the last couple of years and while we want to improve our communication approach, we are also very under-sourced and I would like to make sure that any efforts we put go into the right direction.
Using AI for Non-Profits
📆 Thursday, April 23rd 2026
🇪🇺 4 pm CET / 5 pm Eastern European
🇺🇸 10 am Eastern / 9 am Central
Please join us and learn from fellows how they make AI tools work for them: from systemizing ideas and transforming them into program, to writing grants and many more.
- NEWS FROM THE PROGRAM -
Virtual Fellowship program 2026 moves at full speed
Our Virtual Fellowship program 2026 “Building people power for social and environmental justice” has succesfully launched in March 2026.
After onboarding on March 5th with an introduction and welcome session, the group of fellows dived right into community organising.
On March 10th, the introduction to community organising was done with the help of our US mentor Leah Torrey, currently a Director of Special Initiatives at Duke University. Leah introduced organising through a story of a small park campagin in Slovakia.
On March 31st, the fellows had the chance to work with US Mentor Hector Vaca Cruz, a training and immigrant justice director at Action NC. He made the case about building membership and presented different tools for community outreach and building a base.
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 next session is scheduled for April 16th and will be a praxis group, where participants will have the space for sharing about their local contexts, the communities they work with and reflect on the concepts they have been introduced to. This session will be facilitated by our Bulgarian alumna Shirin Hodzheva (Fall 2023).
Screenshot from the Introduction session on March 5th 2026
Screenshot from the Community organizing 101 session on March 10th
Screenshot from the Building a base training session on March 31st
It is now official: GLC stands for “Grassroots Leaders for Change”
The abbreviation GLC no longer means Great Lakes Consortium, but now stands for “Grassroots Leaders for Change”. More than 55 people from our community joined the consultation on the name in the last couple of months through different channels. “Grassroots Leaders for Change” has led throughout the whole period and until the very end, where it earned popular support by a landslide. Since the community has democratically spoken, we have abided and the slogan is now incorporated on our logo:
Join our Political Task Force!
We are looking to constitute a small and operational Political Task Force of the GLC Alumni Network, including at least 1 person from each of our 6 countries. This is a voluntary and honorary commitment for about 18 hours per year.
Functions of the Political Task Force members:
Draft 1 paragraph of political developments from their respective country in the field of democracy, civil society and human rights on monthly bases (summary will be icluded in our newsletter)
Take part in 1-2 virtual alumni events to present/discuss political events and trends in their country and internationally
Stay in touch with the rest of the Task-Force members
Give input to programs, declarations or documents of the GLC Alumni Network on ad-hoc bases
If you follow the developments in the field of democracy, civil society and human rights; and you are a political nerd, curious to know what is happening in the rest of the countries (and why), please drop a short message to Vladi ([email protected]) by April 20th 2026.
P.S. In the spirit of outlining the self-interest of members: we will give visibility to the Task Force composition and it will look good on your CV and LinkedIn.
- FUNDRAISING -
We are not alone! And we are grateful!
By Vladislav Petkov
GLC Alumni Network Coordinator
The last year has been tough.
It was in February 2025 when we heard our grants were on hold and then we knew that we can no longer rely on the institutional support and funding the GLC exchange programs have previously had.
We had to push through the uncertainty and the shifting institutional frameworks of our own community, we had to overcome the feeling of defeat or even hopeleness, we had to draft completely new plans without knowing if any of them are viable.
So then, we went back to the basics and started… organizing. We went back to listening to our community, we did 1:1 meetings, we drew motivation, inspiration and power from the achievements of our members. And from what people were constantly repeating in our conversations: now, more than ever, we need to stay together. It seemed we cannot allow to feel alone, each of us in their own country, organisation or battle.
So we listened and we tried (and keep trying) to open various paths for people to engage, connect, participate, and contribute. And a lot did, including with money.
You are reading these lines and you keep receiving this newsletter, updates from activities and invitations to events and programs, because our own community stepped up. They donated and/or reached out to others who donated and it is thanks to these collective efforts we could secure some operational expenses for 2026. And yes, we want to do much more and we need more resources for that, but it is worth to stop for just a second, take a breath and appreciate the power of our community.
To each and every one of you: thank you!
Our list of donors in the 2025/2026 fundraising campaign:
- ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS -
Our alumna Szilvia Szénási (Hungary, Spring 2017) received the Hungarian Medal Order Bronze Medal Cross award. She was granted the award for her tireless work for the Roma community as an officer of Polgár Alapítvány and and as an executive director and a board member of Uccu Roma Informális Oktatási Alapítvány. “I accepted it because this recognition is also about Roma organizations, progressive Roma leaders and their communities who work every day for Roma empowerment”.
Alumna Denitsa Lyubenova (Bulgaria, Spring 2017) successfully argued the case Shipova - C-43/24 in front of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The decision on the case was released in March 2026 and represents a historic step forward for trans people’s rights across the EU. Denitsa is a leading human rights lawyer and the chair of the organisation LGBTI Deystvie.
Alumna Annamaria Kovacs (Hungary, Fall 2013) was elected as a board member of the European Community Organising Network (ECON). “Joining the ECON Board is a unique opportunity to scale local Hungarian experiences into a progressive, pan-European network”, she shares. Annamaria will serve alongside another GLC alum: Victor-Catalin Toma (Romania, Spring 2019), who also sits on the ECON board.
- FUNDING POSSIBILITIES -
(EUROPE) Call for proposals to foster citizens’ engagement and participation in the democratic and civil life of the Union
The objective of the call is to promote citizens’ and representative associations’ participation in and contribution to the democratic and civic life of the Union by makingknown and publicly exchanging their views in all areas of Union action.
This call aims to support projects directly involving citizens. The call provides an opportunity to broadly cover a variety of policy areas and contribute to the promotion of EU values, the rule of law, gender equality, fundamental rights and democracy
Each project application under the call must address only one of these topics/priorities:
Supporting free, fair and inclusive electoral processes (focusing on
information about elections and electoral rights, especially for mobile
EU citizens, in full respect of Member States’ competences in
organising elections).
Promoting citizens’ active engagement and democratic participation
in public policymaking, beyond elections, as well as broader civic
engagement.
Countering the spread of disinformation and foreign information
manipulation and interference (FIMI) in the democratic debate and
processes.
The deadline for submitting proposals is April 29th 2026.
- MEME OF THE MONTH -
Operations in the US are currently handled by The World Affairs Council of Northwest Ohio, acting as a fiscal agent and grant manager.
