Who doesn’t love the phrase “Fiscal Year”? Oh, what’s that? Most people don’t? OK, Roger that. But that doesn’t change the fact that we are here to talk about our last one.
The Foundation’s 7th year, aka FY21, ran from 1 JUL 2020 to 30 JUN 2021, and it was full of activity. We know that it can be a lot to keep track of, but we also want our Partners and Members to be in the know about what happened.
So we present to you our FY21 Annual Report, a handy document that condenses all of the year’s highlights into two breezy pages (with photos)!
Or keep reading below!
Our Top 6
Since they fit so well on the page, we chose to highlight SIX of our favorite accomplishments from FY21.
#1 was our SOF Imperatives. We do this every year, but it’s a program that continues to grow and thrive. We educate U.S. Policymakers on the needs of SOF in an annual SOF Imperatives document, which was even more relevant in 2021 with our virtual SOF Imperatives Forum.
#2 was our Virtual Events. Sure, we all started to feel a little “death by webinar” a few months into COVID, but we think our short, focused, and topically varied events kept our community engaged. From Silicon Valley to Capitol Hill, and South Korea to Colorado, our Brown Bags, “SOF Stories: Live!”, Silicon Valley Series, and Partner Spotlights convened our network virtually.
#3 was our NON-Virtual Events. Our team hosted two in-person events in Tampa in Spring 2021. The GSOF Symposium – US convened the community in March and our 7th Anniversary Reception provided excellent networking in May.
#4 was SOF for Life. SOF for Life is our military transition program, supporting SOF and SOF enablers as they seek civilian employment after their Active Duty service ends. The SOF for Life Steering Committee has completed an updated Transition Survey, developed a vetting process for partner organizations, and more!
#5 was adding a Special Air Warfare Symposium. While it didn’t happen this FY, the agreements and the planning did, so we’re counting it! The Foundation is ever-adapting. Our annual Symposium circuit is changing, to add a Special Air Warfare Symposium in Ft. Walton Beach in February 2022.
#6 was our first [three] SOLD OUT expos. For the first time we have sold out our Expos–not once, not twice, but THREE times. GSOF Symposium – US, our Anniversary Reception, and our upcoming Poland Symposium all SOLD OUT. We’re expecting similar with Modern Warfare Week and the Special Air Warfare Symposium, so contact Ranae Grehl if you want in.
Members and Numbers
Time for the stats! But don’t worry, we won’t make you do math.
First let’s talk about the behind the scenes. We’ve jumped up to 8 full-time employees and 61 members on our Advisory Council. So many great minds making the magic happen!
Now let’s bring it to center stage–the members and partners who have joined us and support us. First off–our Corporate Partners.
Corporate Partners are defense-focused organizations that provide capabilities to SOF around the globe, adding valuable experience and resources to our network.
We’ve had many loyal partners over the years that we truly appreciate, but Stu has long had a mark on the wall to hit 100!
Stephen Jones, our VP of Member and Partner Relations, has been reaching for it and he finally hit the mark.
And you’ve probably noticed that “+” sign in there… that’s because we’ve actually already surpassed the big 1-0-0! There’s just not a good emoji for 104. 😉
Another number we’re really thrilled about is 3,200+ (yes, another +), which is our current count for Individual Members. And of that few thousand members, well over 50% of them are current Active Duty Members. This is great for our network and we’re excited to see that number ticking up so dramatically.
We’re also thrilled that our Membership comes from 60 Partner Nations, but… one of our big goals for FY22 is to increase that number! It has stayed pretty stagnant for a few years, and we know we can do better.
More importantly, we hope to deepen the bench in each of those nations, with double-digit membership numbers from all 60 of them! This is an area where we need your help, so please reach out and give us your ideas if you have them!
FY22 Video Newsletter
We’re thrilled about how the last year went, but there’s no time to rest at Global SOF. We brought the whole team together to bring in the news about what we’re planning for FY22… check it out in the video below.
Thanks for being with us on this ride, and we’ll see you soon!
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