EIGHT

for ridding ourselves of nuclear weapons. That partnership brought 25 new members into our network and those connections continue to flourish, with more collaborations coming.

Openly building and sharing knowledge. N Square has made a practice of creating opportunities for fellows and network members to learn from one another and to gain exposure to alternative frameworks for approaching and solving problems. Our growing list of trainings (discussed below in the capacity building section) are central to this effort. Through publications and events, we also work to “spread the word” about ideas, insights, and innovations that we believe the nuclear field and those beyond it should know about.

Survey Results: The Value of the Network

In November 2022, we surveyed a range of stakeholders who have engaged with N Square through the fellowship program and the larger network, Mighty Networks, trainings, technical support, mini-grants, and other ways. Forty-nine people participated, including a mix of senior-level through early-career professionals both within and outside the nuclear field. Some respondents have been heavily involved with N Square while others have touched N Square activities only lightly. In that survey, they identified the five network and fellowship strategies they perceive as being of highest value:

Creating infrastructure for widespread engagement.

Running an international network requires a robust online platform. In 2021 we moved to Mighty Networks, a tool that fosters peer-to-peer networking and enhances our ability to provide live programming and professional development opportunities. Mighty Networks allows us to track engagement in numerous ways and to streamline what we already do best, which is connecting people and creating a shared space for ideas to flourish, this time on a platform that allows us to scale. More than 300 people have joined our Mighty Network in the months since it launched, roughly 50 percent of them nuclear professionals.

Coordinating resources and action. Partners in the N Square funders collaborative have committed to provide financial support for some of the most promising concepts that come out of the Innovators Network. The Carnegie Corporation of New York, in particular, after having earmarked requests for proposals and welcomed pitches from N Square innovators, provided a tranche of funding to take a select docket of projects further. This led to the creation of an experimental program in which N Square offset accelerator grants with technical support from our team and from our partners at Altimeter Design. A dozen projects participated.

• N Square’s role as a connector, grounded in knowledge of what different partners are good at and interested in

• N Square’s credibility, and thus ability to advance thinking in specific places that otherwise wouldn’t consider new ideas, new approaches, and new partnerships

The people in the network (those in the field and those from outside)

• Participation in the fellowship, particularly due to the diversity of participants and the in-person events

• Bridging established experts with others, including those younger in the field and outside the field