SfN Council Looks to Diversify Revenue, Volunteers
The SfN Council met in Sausalito, California, July 31—August 1 to review SfN’s investment and reserve strategies, recommend new committee chairs, and discuss the future direction of the Society.
After receiving an update on the Society's investment portfolio, Council reviewed and approved the multi-year planning targets and suggested edits to the reserve and investment strategies as recommended by the Investment and Finance Committees.
The Council meeting also featured a session focusing on SfN’s future in a post-pandemic world. Staff presented operational metrics and their demonstrated impact on membership and annual meeting attendance from 2017 to 2022. Top themes from the discussions included supporting mid-career and senior scientists through SfN membership, the intertwined nature of membership and the SfN meeting, and positioning SfN’s journals as the place to publish. Council also discussed the opportunities to further strengthen affinity among early career researchers and ways they can and engage with SfN on an annual basis. Two significant outcomes of the discussion included Council endorsing a recommendation that SfN continue to identify and research opportunities to diversify revenue in the upcoming years and executing a Council initiative to introduce an “Ask Anything” series during the annual meeting featuring senior leaders of the field as a way to engage mid-career and senior scientists with the meeting and early career researchers.
Council also approved a slate developed by the Committee on Committees (CoC) recommending new incoming committee chairs and members for committees. The CoC works to incorporate a breadth of voices in SfN’s committee structure and ensure diversity is attended to at all levels.
