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Leadership & Strategy Development |
Case Studiesbuilding an international multidisciplinary organizationThe International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), today the world's leading organization and voice for stem cell biology researchers, regulators, ethicists and commercial organizations, was started in 2002 by a group of leading researchers and The Sherwood Group. Stem cell science has been a preeminent science since 1961 but in 1998 new developments dramatically accelerated the potential to improve lives, and with it, the pace of discovery, the level of interest. In late 2001 a group of leading scientists decided it was time to pursue an international infrastructure to facilitate international collaboration, responsible science and public policy. The new organization did not yet have an active board of directors, members or resources and no strategic vision for how the organization would grow. In early 2002 The Sherwood Group, Inc. was selected from a pool of qualified organizations based on the firm's experience with scientific organizations and vision for the organization's development.
Since then, Sherwood has worked methodically with ISSCR leaders to establish the Society as the leading community and voice for researchers in what quickly became a crowded marketplace. Today, ISSCR has more than 2,500 members worldwide, 2,800 meeting attendees, a 100,000-square-foot exhibit hall, a journal, a Web site, a scholarship program and an engaged and vibrant volunteer board of directors and committee structure. Meetings have been held in North America, Australia, Asia and Europe. ISSCR leaders and staff are developing a number of major initiatives that will provide unparalleled benefits to the broad-based community of members and stakeholders the organization has become. Sherwood now provides ISSCR with a staff that includes a full-time executive director, administrators, marketing manager, plus 5 part-time specialists in meetings, exhibit management, finance, education and other functions. ISSCR's executive director travels the world representing the society and building relationships that add value, depth and opportunity to the ISSCR community, and advance the Society's mission. Recent successes include the development of an International Advisory Board and a new initiative to promote the Society as an honest broker of stem cell information worldwide, using an external public relations firm and a program modeled on the World Health Organization's AIDS awareness campaign. |
Sherwood helped ISSCR establish its legal and governance structure and a financial plan. Those early days were tough, without a tangible product for potential members or a sense of purpose for newly minted volunteer leaders. ISSCR leaders relied on their AMC staff to plan and market the event, including fundraising support and liaison with related nonprofit and governmental organizations that would be crucial to ISSCR's success.