Alex Sardar, our Executive Director pens a personal note on shared challenges of the past year and more optimistically, upcoming novel projects for the network in 2021.

"I’ve always had a hard time figuring out when to stop wishing others a happy new year. My Armenian family revels well into January with apostolic Christmas and ‘old’ new year celebrations—harkening back to our ancient pagan roots. In my adopted home communities across the world, be they in the Middle East, the Americas, or Europe, there is at times a premium on efficiently wrapping up holidays and getting back to routine.

This year, however, feels and is different—for each of us, our communities, and certainly for our SEEP family. 2020 was a turning point in many respects, and while we may be reflecting and drawing on what we learned still, at SEEP we are determined to launch and navigate 2021 with some of the early lessons.

Weeks into the onset of the pandemic, when most of the globe was under lockdown, we realized that we needed to define and make explicit the core values of the SEEP Network—to anchor ourselves from what felt like freefall. This year we commit to do our work with deeper fidelity to those core values. This means, first and foremost, there will be change to some of the things you have come to expect from us, and above all that change is going to include your voice in the process.

Some of the novel ideas, to which our members have already begun contributing starting at the Annual General Meeting in December, are moving forward already. The members’ digital forum, a space where our growing membership can fully engage with peers, colleagues, and guests is in design, and we expect to launch before the end of the first quarter of this year. We are diligently putting your ideas into motion on how SEEP can become an advocacy platform for your rich perspectives in matters of policy, practice, and change. GenerationNOW is our mentorship initiative to be a more intentional home for the next generation of global development professionals.

Our new Basic and Associate Membership structure, launched mid-2020, has already created a path for over 200 individuals to join our existing organizational members, adding to the diversity and complexity of our community. In the next few weeks, we will launch our renewals campaign and I want to personally thank you for considering renewing your annual (organizational) membership to take advantage of the full set of benefits at SEEP, and to generously continue supporting our work on your and all of our members’ behalf.

A host of new programs are also in start-up, and of course our members have an open invitation to participate in the various activities. Be on the lookout for a new initiative we call Solution Incubator, where SEEP partners with members to design and deliver learning services and products for your needs. The Solution Incubator is already off to a great testing start with two products currently in development for our members Swisscontact and Islamic Relief Worldwide. As we co-create with our partners, we are committed to sharing regularly what we learn from these product development processes. If you’re interested in exploring particular questions or offerings of the Solution Incubator, please send a note to seep@seepnetwork.org and our team will be in touch.

Finally, as we enter 2021, I couldn’t be more proud to welcome four new board members, who were elected from one of the largest and most diverse slates of candidates in SEEP’s 35-year history. They join a powerhouse board of doers, thinkers, and leaders to guide and govern SEEP into the future.

As mentioned earlier, at SEEP, we are determined to heed the early lessons of all that has transpired: community progress is possible only in the presence of humility, and empathy is the cornerstone of community. And in the words of our Board Chair Patrick Kelley, “Community is everything!”

So, happy new year. Don’t be all too surprised if you hear me wish you a happy new year a little bit longer."