{"id":905,"date":"2026-10-15T17:20:34","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T17:20:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/?p=905"},"modified":"2026-10-16T14:03:43","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T14:03:43","slug":"highlights-from-the-2026-leaders-forum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/?p=905","title":{"rendered":"Highlights from the 2026 Leaders\u2019 Forum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The recently concluded gathering in Washington, DC focused on connecting STEM educators to emerging funding opportunities<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"734\" src=\"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_5667-1024x734.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-906\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_5667-1024x734.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_5667-300x215.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_5667-768x550.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_5667-1536x1101.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_5667-2048x1468.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">TCUP Hub Director Scott Morgan welcomes participants at the 2026 Leaders\u2019 Forum. Photo: Frankie Hayes-Ellis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>By Frankie Hayes-Ellis<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap wp-block-paragraph\">What does it take to build thriving STEM programs that make a lasting difference for students and communities? That question helped shape the 2026 <em>NSF TCUP Leaders<\/em><em>\u2019<\/em> <em>Forum<\/em>, which brought together&nbsp;66 participants&nbsp;in Washington, D.C., October 8-10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hosted by the TCUP Hub at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, the forum connected institutional leaders, faculty, grant professionals, and NSF representatives for discussions on funding opportunities, institutional sustainability, and strategies for advancing STEM education and research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NSF leadership shared updates on funding opportunities, organizational developments, and award management. Sessions also explored strategic planning, collaborative research, innovative language initiatives, and ways to demonstrate the institutional, economic, and community impact of STEM programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One highlight was a screening of&nbsp;<em>T\u00f3 \u00e9\u00ed \u00edn\u00e1 \u00e1t<\/em><em>\u2019\u00e9<\/em><em>: The Water is Life Center at Din<\/em><em>\u00e9<\/em> <em>College<\/em>, followed by a session exploring how institutions can more effectively tell the stories behind their STEM initiatives and communicate their impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Equally valuable were the opportunities to connect. Networking sessions and conversations with NSF program leadership provided space to exchange ideas, discuss common challenges, and explore future collaborations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The forum underscored the power of bringing people and ideas together, reinforcing the TCUP Hub&#8217;s mission to strengthen connections, share expertise, and support STEM opportunities across Indigenous communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">PowerPoint presentations shared at the meeting have been archived on the Hub\u2019s website and can be found <a href=\"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/?page_id=897\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"897\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Frankie Hayes-Ellis is co-d<\/em><em>irector<\/em> <em>the TCUP Hub.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The recently concluded gathering in Washington, DC focused on connecting STEM educators to emerging funding opportunities<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-activities"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_5667-scaled.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=905"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":911,"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905\/revisions\/911"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}