BayGeo is a volunteer-run nonprofit organization serving the geospatial community in the San Francisco Bay Area. Through technical training, educational workshops, a network of partnerships, and community events, BayGeo works to connect professionals, students, educators, and organizations across the geospatial field. This presentation will share lessons learned from building and sustaining a regional geospatial community with ambitious goals, a volunteer board, and limited resources.

Education is one of BayGeo's core activities. Technical training and educational workshops are taught by practicing geospatial professionals. BayGeo also collaborates with local governments and organizations to provide workforce training. BayGeo's most significant partnership is with the City & County of San Francisco, where BayGeo runs regular in-person geospatial workshops for city staff. The BayGeo–San Francisco partnership demonstrates the value of affordable, customized geospatial training delivered by a community-based organization.

One of BayGeo's recent successful initiatives has been becoming a certified QGIS training organization. The QGIS certificate has boosted QGIS workshop enrollment significantly. BayGeo has awarded 40 certificates since becoming certified last year, and has additional workshops planned to provide other types of QGIS certificates. The QGIS certification demonstrates the value learners place on recognized credentials for professional development.

Beyond training, BayGeo hosts a variety of events. The annual GeoEducation Summit is BayGeo’s premiere event, and is co-hosted by a local college or university. The Summit brings together professionals, educators and students to discuss curriculum innovations, connections between academia and industry, and forces shaping the geospatial field. BayGeo also hosts bespoke events at company offices, as well as casual GeoBeers events for regular community gatherings. The BayGeo Board has learned that a variety of event types and locations help engage different segments of the geospatial community.

BayGeo has been exploring new ways of engaging with the geo community. For example, it has recently started working with the OpenStreetMap community through mapathons and manages local projects in the OSM US talking manager. Additionally, a new community cartography competition was launched as well as a regional geospatial workforce survey to better understand evolving workforce needs, in-demand skills, hiring trends, and educational gaps. These activities help create opportunities for collaboration and provide entry points for people at different stages of their geospatial journey.

BayGeo's programs are supported primarily through memberships and partnerships. Partnering with universities, government agencies, nonprofits, and private-sector organizations have been essential to sustaining BayGeo's reach and impact.

The presentation will discuss some practical lessons learned, including:
* The challenges and rewards of operating a volunteer-led organization with ambitious ideas and limited resources.
* The importance of partnerships across academia, government, nonprofits, and industry.
* How a credentialed training program like the QGIS certificate program can dramatically increase participation and provide value to learners.
* How providing free student memberships and discounted workshops for students can increase participation, cultivate future volunteers, and build long-term community connections.
* How to manage a surplus of interested/willing volunteers, but a shortage of projects (or sometimes the inverse!)
* The pros and cons of volunteer-run projects vs paid positions for consistency, progress, and completion
* How to host in-person and online events to reach different factions of the geo community.
* The value of in-person board meetings for a community organization

Attendees will leave with practical ideas for building local geospatial communities, creating sustainable educational programs, and strengthening connections across the broader geospatial field.