Happy New Year!
I hope you were able to enjoy a bit of downtime with friends and family during the holidays. It’s cold and grey outside of my window—winter is certainly here—and yet, we’re already thinking about June, July, and August.
Two thousand eighteen was a big year for the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) with the introduction of a new strategic plan, a summer learning kick-off at the NYSE, a research symposium, and a dynamic national conference in Kansas City, Missouri.
We launched a few exciting new partnerships and helped galvanize champions to secure increases for key federal funding that supports summer programs across the country. We also hit a new milestone with the largest ever pool of applicants for the 2019 Summer Learning Awards.
It’s just January, but we expect to build on last year’s success and make 2019 bigger and better. Summer Learning Day will expand to Summer Learning Week, our national conference moves to Atlanta, Georgia, and NSLA’s new research and legislative agendas guide our collective efforts in shaping smarter summers, brighter futures for all kids.
Finally, some personal news. After twenty-five years of leading NSLA as CEO/board chair, I’ve decided now is the time to step away so I can work on the summer learning movement in a different way. That may mean growing more summer advocates, continuing fundraising, and perhaps producing a documentary, book, or podcast series.
The search for a new CEO is underway. Our board is strong. Our staff is strong and our field is more robust than ever with more programs serving more kids with higher quality…all because of YOU!
Thank you,
Matthew Boulay, PhD