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Today, we are excited to welcome eight new members to the PIE Network, increasing our total membership to 34 groups located in 23 states and the District of Columbia. That's home to 66% of U.S. population. (We provide more information on each of our new members groups in the article below.)
In early July, I wrote about the network's size and scope and before that, the movement's growth. These eight new members add four states plus D.C. to our member map. We said in July that the network had more than doubled in size since our founding meeting of 12 groups in 2007; now it's more accurate to say we've "almost tripled."
Because three-quarters of these new members are independent groups, the network is now made up of 68% independent organizations and 32% affiliates of national organizations, including Stand for Children, 50CAN, and The Education Trust.
In many ways, this group of new members is a microcosm of the network as whole. It includes groups working to mobilize broader community participation and/or those working to ensure engagement among their state's civic leaders, or as many say, "grass tops", and adds another business-backed group, similar to roughly a fifth of our members. It also strengthens the voice of the network in the Southeast, a change that has already met cheers from existing members in Tennessee and Kentucky.
In July, we also talked about the collective reach of our members, reporting that the network reaches 263,000 supporters of education reform. Here's how that works: we blast information to our members and they blast to their constituencies. That way, when any of those supporters receive information through the network, they are hearing from the credible, established leaders in their own states. By adding these new members we extend that "reach" to more than 300,000. That's just one more example of how the impact of a network is exponential.
Suzanne Tacheny Kubach
Executive Director, PIE Network
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