Written by former Learning Network chair Tom McDowall
One of the most extraordinary things about our network is how it is made of and run by its members. It’s this that has allowed it to evolve to meet the changing needs of our industry continually. The most visible representation of this is the board. Every January, we welcome a new group of volunteer board members. Every one of them willing to give up their time to facilitate the network for our collective benefit.
A new board has now been assembled for 2025, and there has been a lot of change! But before we get into all that, let’s look back at 2024.
The board of 2024 set itself 3 main objectives:
- To help the network reach 500 individual members.
- To secure a total of 50 industry partners to support the network.
- To upgrade our documentation and data safeguarding efforts.
I’m proud to say we achieved all 3.
The network is now home to 540 members and 52 industry partners. The board also worked tirelessly to ensure your data is safe whilst making it easier than ever to sign up for events, webinars, and mentoring and giving you access to a massive library of resources.
Everyone worked hard to deliver this, but I must specifically call out the efforts of Richard Price. The role of the technical director is often, by definition, an invisible one. But I can assure you that the network would not have had the year it did without Richard’s tireless work.
2024 also saw the return of some of our most popular events, the LTA Winner’s Showcase, Summer Mixer, and of course, Connect. But also the birth of a set of new events, mastery days, virtual roundtables, and member-led socials. I must say thank you to Oyindamola and Kat for working alongside me (not easy at the best of times), to deliver a year of exciting events and webinars.
Our mentoring program has continued to grow, supported by Neil and Helen. The introduction of Guider as our mentoring platform has supercharged relationships and we’re pleased to be partnering with them again in 2025.
Many of you will remember 2024 as the year the LN Book Club launched. Kristina, Kat, and Helen rapidly took this from idea to reality, and it’s quickly become a beloved offering. Likewise, Kim, in her final year on the board, championed the creation and growth of the resource library you now all have access to.
You’ll likely notice changes to the newsletter you’re reading today, an early sign of a new board. But thank you to Yasmine for looking after the newsletter throughout 2024.
I’ll end this wander through the past year with a simple and heartfelt thank you. As many of you know, I have now stepped down as chair of the network. The last 2 years have been great fun, and I count myself extremely lucky to have had this opportunity. Kim and Paula have both had the unique experience of being vice-chair alongside me, sorry about that, and they have both left indelible marks on the network we all share.
We now collectively enter a new year with a new chair and vice chair. Rebecca and Neil, respectively, have already contributed massively to our success in 2024, and I look forward to seeing the direction they forge for us in the coming year.
The new board will introduce itself elsewhere in this month’s newsletter. But I wanted to share my leading thought as an outgoing chair. How lucky are we to have an organisation like The Learning Network? A space free of boring self-promotion and sales pitches focussed not on individualistic clawing but collective progress towards a better, more inclusive, impactful industry.
I for one, count myself exceedingly lucky to be a member here. Thank you all for making it such a supportive and, yes, magical place in which to build a career.
