Editors’ Note: The post below is adapted from the address that Rebecca McLeod, outgoing Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) President, made to the organization’s Annual Meeting, May 2026.

Hello everyone!

A year ago, at the 2025 annual meeting in Baltimore, I stood before you as SSP President-Elect and somewhat nervously described myself as your “wartime president.” At the time, our industry was, and still is, confronting enormous uncertainty. We face political upheaval, threats to academic freedom and research funding, rapid technological change, economic pressure, and ongoing concerns about integrity and trust. I pledged with confidence that despite these unsettled times, SSP would “keep calm and carry on.” What I did not say out loud was that, privately, I was anxious too. I didn’t know what the year ahead would bring or how our community would weather it. What I could not fully anticipate, however, was just how resilient this community would prove to be.

In difficult times, organizations discover who they really are. This year, SSP showed exactly who we are: resilient, generous, adaptable, collaborative, and deeply committed to one another. SSP did not retreat, shrink, or disconnect during uncertainty. Instead, this community stayed active, engaged, and forward-looking. Members showed up. Committees stayed active. Programs expanded. People mentored one another. New collaborations emerged. And again and again, SSP members leaned in.

While many organizations were experiencing contraction and retrenchment, SSP continued to grow. Overall membership increased by more than 2%, and our international membership grew by 4.5%. Those numbers may sound modest, but in a year marked by layoffs, budget freezes, and widespread uncertainty, growth matters. It tells me that people still believe in the value of connection, collaboration, and community.

Volunteers remain the lifeblood of SSP, and this year the organization was supported by 356 individuals serving in more than 600 volunteer roles. Many of you were doing double and triple duty — serving on committees, mentoring colleagues, contributing to The Scholarly Kitchen, teaching in the Journals Academy, organizing webinars, and supporting one another behind the scenes.

In difficult times, people often pull back. SSP members leaned in. Our professional development programs also continued to grow. Participation increased in both the Journals Academy and the Leadership Academy, with more than 100 professionals participating across the two programs this year. To me, that is evidence of optimism and of this community’s continued commitment to investing in the future.

Our Mentorship Program also remained highly active, with 100 participants and 50 mentorship matches this year. Applications increased by more than 12%, and we expanded the program to include a mentorship cohort for Ukrainian publishers, a pilot group mentorship initiative, and soon, a late-career mentorship program.

People were not only seeking support — they were volunteering to support one another. We also welcomed 12 SSP Fellows representing the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Ghana, further strengthening the global nature of our community. Our regional groups continued to expand as well. We now have nine active regional communities, including our newest group here in the Western States, alongside thriving groups in places such as Berlin, Boston, Washington DC, New York, Philadelphia, Raleigh-Durham, and the UK.

Another bright spot this year has been the continued growth of our Communities of Interest (CoINs). The AI in Scholarly Publishing CoIN now includes more than 300 members and multiple working groups focused on tools, ethics, governance, and policy. Our Early Career Professionals and Mental Health Awareness groups continue to thrive, and this year we launched new CoINs focused on mid-career professionals and Society Leadership, with an Executive Leadership CoIN coming soon.

I’m especially excited about these initiatives because one of SSP’s core strategic goals is to make SSP a home for scholarly communications professionals at every career stage.

Last year, I said that no matter what was happening “out there,” SSP would remain a safe harbor for our members — a place to network, learn, exchange ideas, commiserate, innovate, and support one another. I believe we fulfilled that promise.

This was also not a year of standing still. Despite everything, SSP continued to experiment, innovate, and evolve. Work began on a redesign of the SSP website. The “Pulse Check Polls” initiative was introduced. The EPIC Awards continued to grow. And our webinars and educational programming remained strong and financially successful thanks to robust community participation and sponsor support.

This year also reinforced something else very important: the many challenges facing scholarly communications cannot be solved alone. SSP is not an island. Our community is stronger when we work collectively across organizations and sectors. Melanie Dolechek has done tremendous work representing SSP and advocating for our industry through cross-community collaborations with STM, AUPresses, ARL, and ACRL. One important outcome of that work was the joint statement, Trust and Integrity: A Research Imperative, which reflected the strength of collective action across our ecosystem.

I was also proud to participate earlier this year in a virtual anti-bullying Town Hall alongside leaders from ISMPP, ISMTE, and CSE.  Organized by Jennifer Regala and Randy Townsend, co-chairs of SSP’s Mental Health Awareness CoIN, the event drew more than 60 participants for an open and solutions-focused discussion about a challenge that unfortunately affects many professionals across our industry. Another exciting collaboration was the launch of the Scholarly Publishing Position Glossary, developed jointly with AUPresses and ALPSP to help support career progression and improve understanding of the many roles across scholarly publishing.

At the same time, the SSP Board has also been thinking carefully about the future of the organization itself. Our responsibility was not simply to weather uncertainty, but to ensure that SSP emerges stronger, more adaptable, and prepared for the next generation. Over the past year, the Board has been exploring how SSP can better support its members through advocacy and how we can continue to strengthen governance and organizational effectiveness in a rapidly changing environment.

While SSP is not a lobbying organization, we recognized that challenging times require thoughtful adaptation. As a result, SSP adopted a new strategic goal focused on advocacy, education, and coalition-building to help advance scholarly publishing and scholarly communications. I’m especially grateful to Beth Craanen and Tim Lloyd for chairing the advocacy task force and helping guide these important conversations.

Mindful that SSP’s governance structure has remained largely unchanged for more than four decades, the Board has begun important conversations about how we prepare SSP for the future. Our goal is to ensure the organization remains adaptable, resilient, and responsive to the evolving needs of our members and the broader scholarly communications community.

Speaking of the future, one of the highlights of last year’s Annual Meeting was the joyful flag-waving celebration marking the successful completion of the Generations Fund. Thanks to the generosity of 527 individuals and 40 organizations, SSP reached its $500,000 fundraising goal.

The completion of the Generations Fund was far more than a fundraising milestone. It was a declaration that SSP intends to invest in future generations of scholarly communications professionals for decades to come. This year, those funds have already helped support the Fellowship Program and travel support for speakers bringing diverse global perspectives to our meetings.

This year tested all of us on many levels — personally and professionally — but SSP did not fracture. This community adapted, endured, and continued to show up for one another. Recently, I’ve been reminded of a line from Maya Angelou:

“I have heard it said that winter, too, will pass,
that spring is a sign that summer is due at last.
See, all we have to do is hang on.”

And yet, I think this community did far more than simply hang on. Despite the chaos in the world around us, SSP continued to grow, innovate, mentor, collaborate, and move forward together.

Before I close, I want to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who makes this organization so special: Our volunteers, committee chairs, staff, Board members, mentors, Fellows, sponsors, and all SSP members, and especially to Melanie Dolechek, whose steady leadership, wisdom, and dedication continue to guide SSP through both calm and turbulent times.

SSP has played an instrumental role in my own professional journey, and I will always be grateful for the friendships, opportunities, and sense of belonging this community has given me. Serving as your president during such a consequential year has been one of the greatest honors of my career.

And now, I am truly delighted to pass the gavel to Damita Snow, whose leadership, insight, and commitment to this community will guide SSP beautifully into its next chapter.

Thank you all. It has been an extraordinary privilege to serve as your president.