Since 2001, the NSF ADVANCE program has funded organizational change projects promoting
gender equity in academic science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
The connections between institutions and individuals involved in the ADVANCE program form
a network of potential conduits for information sharing on how institutions can better address
gender inequities in academic sciences. As the ADVANCE program celebrates its 20th
anniversary, we describe the growth and composition of the organizational network over the past
two decades to explore the breadth and reach of the ADVANCE program in the U.S. higher
education system. We find that through interpersonal and organizational connections, the
ADVANCE program has reached more than three times the number of organizations than have
been directly funded. Furthermore, we outline several ways in which future ADVANCE
awardees and stakeholders can better utilize the existing network structure to expand the
knowledge created through the ADVANCE program to a more diverse institutional audience.