I am so proud to be a part of this organization of amazing women. We do really important work as “Science Advocates” by providing recognition and unrestricted financial awards to young scientists in STEM disciplines at the seed-stage of their research. We help to keep the STEM pipeline full and the US competitive in science and technology. NO OTHER ALL-WOMEN’S ORGANIZATION HAS OUR LONG HISTORY AND IMPRESSIVE TRACK RECORD.

Looking back at this past year, we accomplished a LOT:

• ARCS NCC allocated over $1 million to ARCS Scholars for the third consecutive year! (Special thanks to Linda Millard, Susan Mooradian, Molly Hauser – and generous ARCS members.)
• We celebrated our Northern California Chapter’s 50^th birthday by Zoom: told stories, made toasts, read letters of congratulations from Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Governor Gavin Newsom, plus a proclamation from San Francisco Mayor London Breed.
• We maintained momentum, staying “connected while apart.” (Special thanks to all members for remaining committed to our mission - and to Zoom!)
• We made good progress with our website and weekly social media posts and added a NCC YouTube channel. (Special thanks to Elizabeth Callander and Nancy Bush.)
• The new Finance Committee strengthened the input and managed costs carefully, resulting in a year-end surplus for operations. (Special thanks to Elizabeth Callander.)
• We welcomed a fabulous new member, Diana Rice Moore, and streamlined all application forms. (Thanks to Tina Hinckley, and special thanks to Katy Hope and Deborah Mann for our custom ARCS NCC face masks.)
• We raised more than enough money to cover Chapter operations, despite the cancellation of our annual Scholar Awards Celebration due to the pandemic; as promised, excess dollars were moved to the Scholar Awards Fund! (Special thanks to Deborah Mann and the SAC committee.)
• The 2021 ARCS Scholar Symposium on April 26 was a great success as a virtual event. (Special thanks to Nancy Bush, the entire Symposium team, and Advanced Visual Production!)
• Science Activities reimagined field trips as Science Salons on the second Thursday of the month; such a great opportunity to introduce friends and colleagues to ARCS! (Special thanks to Deborah Mann, Judy Webster, and Nancy Mueller.)
• University Relations conducted three Scholar Celebrations and three site assessments by Zoom with our university partners, which worked beautifully thanks to thoughtful planning and collaboration. We added a department at UC Santa Cruz AND started to explore adding UC Merced as a new partner. (Special thanks to Chris Brent and Leslie Van Houten.)
• We approved a new 5-year Strategic Plan, which received strong praise from the Leadership Advisory Council. (Special thanks to Chris Brent and Jane Gardner.)

I am delighted to hand over the official gavel and whistle to Elizabeth Callander, President of ARCS NCC for 2021-2022!