Four years ago, a group of young scientists decided to make the first move to create a community fighting for gender equality in academia - they founded the Lise Meitner Society. Back then, we put all our efforts into kick-starting an ambitious, out-of-the-box conference known today as "I, Scientist", all the while carrying out our PhD projects and some even raising our kids.
After three successful installations of the conference and up to 1000 inspired attendees, the time has come to ask ourselves: "What's next?" This question came as a natural next step for the LMG. After all, we have a beloved and successful annual event, we have a base of members and collaborators motivated to do more for gender equality, so how can we utilize what we have?
In autumn 2019, we applied for and won a stipend of startsocial-e.V. for the coaching of non-profit organizations like us. Over the following few months, we worked hard on defining the vision and core values of our organization, sharing what LMG means to us, and planning the steps on how to achieve our newly found vision.
We all agreed our favorite part of LMG is our community. We know well that at the "I, Scientist" conference there is a special atmosphere of understanding, comradery, motivation, unfiltered ambition, and support. There, we feel free to be what we want and say what we want, without the fear of being misunderstood or the risk of feeling alone with our problems. Compared to our daily professional and sometimes even private lives, we do realize how special that atmosphere is. We want to foster a community of exactly that type all year round.
Our first step in growing our community is to connect with our members and get them involved more in the work of LMG. That is why this year we kick-started our first-ever Idea Contest. It is a chance for our members to show us their ideas on how to achieve gender equality, get involved, and run a project with LMG. Read more about the contest and other LMG news below and in the links.
Yours,
LMG Board
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