The board approved a formal Cost of Living Adjustment policy , capped at 5% (accounting for current ~3% inflation), with flexibility to go higher if warranted. The board retains the ability to pause COLA in years where NM's financial position doesn't support it. Soft-money PI salaries are only adjusted if the COLA is budgeted into their grant.
We're kicking off an engagement with Black Fox Global next week to build out our communications and fundraising infrastructure. This includes dedicated comms and advancement support, cold outreach on our behalf, and upskilling for team members involved in fundraising. The goal is to build durable infrastructure that supports fundraising capacity. Bradley and Joana will both be working with the Black Fox team closely over the next 7 months.
We're also actively cultivating several funder relationships: Wellcome (connectomics), Protocol Labs, Allen Institute, and continued conversations with Simons Foundation as our current grant winds down. For the Impact Scholars program, we’ve secured financial support from the Michael J. Fox Foundation and in-kind support from the Open Brain Institute.
Courtney provided a general Academy update, including this year's financials, certificate numbers, new initiatives, and big wins. More data is coming from our survey analysis.
We're continuing to build board capacity, particularly by looking for people with backgrounds in financial operations for a specific Treasurer role, and people with science philanthropy or fundraising networks. A board recruitment subcommittee with Konrad, Ella, Brad, and Bradley was formed to coordinate outreach.
The board also discussed ways to increase transparency and community input into the Board's role and decisions. We will regularly be sharing the agenda for our Quarterly Board Meetings, and also commit to sharing a summary of discussion and decisions from each meeting (like this one!) that are not otherwise confidential. We’ll continue to gauge interest from the community on other forms of engaging with the Board and organizational decision-making.
Ella, Megan, and Dan, who were all able to join for our in-person Core Team Retreat, shared a little bit about their experience and the value of spending time with the Neuromatch staff. They highlighted how helpful this was in getting a full picture of the organization, surfacing some disconnects between the Board and staff, and the value of making time to connect with staff. We’ll be making a more intentional effort to bring together staff and Board together during the year.
During the retreat, several board members and staff brought up that they didn’t feel our current mission statement reflects the work and focus of Neuromatch. The full Board agreed. This will be a deliberate process over the next ~6 months to update the mission is parallel with creating a theory of change for the organization.
In November, Neuromatch will have a booth at the Society for Neuroscience (SfN). We're looking forward to connecting with our community in person and introducing our programs to new audiences — mark your calendars and stay tuned for more details as each event approaches!
The Volunteer Engagement Working Group is finalizing the annual volunteer survey for 2026. You can expect the survey to be sent out in the next week. In addition, this year, we will be mailing a small token of our appreciation to all volunteers who provide us with their mailing address (whether you fill out the survey or not!). Please fill out the form when it's sent!
This month we are focused on hiring our Curriculum Specialist for NeuroAI for High School and the Teaching Fellow that will be working along side them.
None
- $1,000,000 over two years (Fairness Track) for unrestricted funding to support core organisational infrastructure and the expansion of key program initiatives.
- : After some discussions with Dana for feedback on this proposal, Dana have been in touch this week to let us know they'll be recommending Neuromatch's Ethics and Society proposal for inclusion in the October Board of Directors meeting! They may not be able to fund the full amount ($183,400) this year, but should be able to get close. We'll have a further update from them in a week or two.
- In talks with senior leadership about regular funding support for the Academy and Impact Scholars program, and how to strengthen our partnership with Allen, including using more of Allen's data in our programming.
- Up to $50,000 in unrestricted financial support and up to $20,000 in AWS Promotional Credit. We are planning to submit an application to help us modernise our portal, including using it for better long-term impact tracking of our alumni.
- Digital Minds RFP for an expansion of the AI Sentience Scholars Program
- $25,000 to support the delivery of Neuromatch Academy
- As of 31 July 2026, Neuromatch Inc. held in the bank. Based on current projections and not accounting for pending or future fundraising, Neuromatch will exhaust available and committed funds in . This provides a conservative financial runway of approximately.