The Access Network is a community of undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, staff, and faculty who are working to create more equitable, inclusive, and accessible STEM spaces. The network connects and supports student-driven programs at nine universities across the country. You can learn more about us at our website !

Historically, Access has been funded by grants from the National Science Foundation. However, our remaining grant was canceled last April in a widescale purge at NSF that targeted projects focused on equity, inclusivity, and accessibility.

Each year, Access hosts the Assembly, an event that brings together student leaders from across our network to engage in professional development, build community, and support one another in improving their departments. Last year we were able to pull off the Assembly despite the grant cancellation through generous donations from several sources, including GoFundMe. We are once again trying to pull together money for this year's Assembly, which is scheduled to take place in early July. Any money that we collect through this campaign will be used to fund housing, food, and transportation costs necessary for running the Assembly.

If we are fortunate enough to raise more money than we need, then we would use that to support other Access activities. For example, several Access students have been working on projects to evaluate Access's effectiveness, and they have continued to work on these projects despite the grant cancellation. We would like to be able to compensate them for their time and support their travel costs to present their work at a conference this summer.

We are grateful for anything you can contribute!