February Presidential Message

Dear POWER Members,
Reflecting on the first months of 2026, education continues to be under attack at all levels from early childhood to higher education. You may be feeling these impacts in your professional and personal lives as current events are impacting your research, teaching, outreach, and passions. 

One way to prevail in these challenging times is to create community, stand together, and move your important work forward to ensure your voice contributes to the conversation. The POWER leadership met in January to discuss what we have heard from you regarding building community and connections. In response, we are providing our members with multiple ways to connect—in person and virtually—with amazing education researchers in 2026. Our POWER meet ups at PCRC and CRIEI were well attended and rejuvenating! Thank you to everyone who attended.

Below is a list of ways to connect with other POWER members this year. Specific dates and details will be released on the POWER listserv as the events draw near. 

POWER Meet ups: 
AERA/NCME April in Los Angeles, 
NRCEC June in Washington DC, 
SSSR July in Rotterdam, 
SREE September in Baltimore, and
ASHA November in Indianapolis. 

​**Please contact me if you are interested in supporting one of these POWER Meet Ups or if you have another Meet Up suggestion you would like to support. 

CONECT-Ed and POWER Partnership Writing Community
Join a writing community! We meet first and third Fridays of each month through May from 1-2:30ET 
To join here is the link:
https://groups.google.com/g/conect-ed 
Or email Dr. Aitken at [email protected] to join
Also, Join for talks with Erin McTigue April 10 and Sara Hart May 8!

Join a Hub
POWER Hubs are networks of researchers committed to furthering the mission of POWER. Hubs are led by a coordinator who is a POWER member and meet regularly to network among and support their members.
Find information about Hubs, joining a Hub or starting a Hub here:
https://www.womeninedresearch.com/hubs.html

Join a POWER Committee
Get engaged with POWER by joining a POWER Committee. POWER includes several committees in which the more active work of the organization is completed—Awards, Communications, Membership, Professional Development & Mentoring.  A brief description of each committee is included here:
https://www.womeninedresearch.com/committees.html
If you are interested in joining, please email me!

Virtual POWER(ful) Conversations 
Mid-Career Conversations about research, leadership, and life
Hope Gerde, Texas A&M University, Topic: Responding to Changes in Federal Funding in the US
March 26 2:00 ET/1:00 CT/12:00 MT, 11:00 PT
Registration and zoom link forthcoming

Other community ideas are in the works so stay tuned. We are cheering you on for an amazing 2026. Let’s continue to support education research together!

Cheers,
Hope Gerde
POWER President