We are excited to announce that the Women of Fisheries Board has recently completed our first 5-year Strategic Plan. Over the past two years, we engaged in a collaborative process with numerous discussions to develop a framework that will guide our priorities and better support our members. Our primary goal is to ensure our activities closely align with our mission while we continue to grow and support the needs of our community.

We began with a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) to reflect on where we excel, where we could improve, and what external factors may shape our future. Several recurring themes emerged that resonate with our purpose and values, including connection, support, empowerment, visibility, leadership, and financial sustainability.

As we evaluated the initiatives most meaningful to our members, we recognized that we cannot pursue every great idea simultaneously. Therefore, we focused on the efforts that align best with our mission and identified five priority areas that now form the backbone of our strategic plan: Governance, Leadership, Membership Support and Engagement, Visibility and Amplification, and Financial Sustainability.

With this framework established, we updated the organization’s bylaws to better reflect how Women of Fisheries operates today, as opposed to when they were first developed in 2020. We also created our first Vision Statement, which captures the long-term impact we hope the Women of Fisheries will have on the fisheries profession.

Together, the Strategic Plan, updated Bylaws, and Vision Statement strengthen our foundation and provide us with the tools to plan intentionally. They will guide our decisions, help us assess our progress, and support the development of annual work plans that are both achievable and meaningful. Most importantly, these documents position us to better serve our members. All of these documents are also available for download on the About Us page of the website.

We look forward to using this roadmap to enhance our impact and continue uplifting women in fisheries science. Thank you for being part of this community and for your ongoing support for one another. We welcome your ideas, feedback, and involvement as we bring this plan to life, and we are excited to build the Women of Fisheries together.