Membership Opportunities Expand at The Global Switchboard

This month marks a year since Amizade and Global Solutions Pittsburgh teamed up to open The Global Switchboard. A lot has happened since then! Last May, the Switchboard started off strong with 8 members, exceeding its goal of 6, and growing to 12 members within the first six months. The Global Switchboard strives to be more than just a building for shared work space by continuously seeking out opportunities to collaborate together. One of our collaborative successes from this year includes the Community of Practice convenings and grants made possible by the Sprout Fund. These opportunities helped individual organizations to increase their visibility and allowed for easier collaboration between organizations. The majority of Switchboard members participated in these grants.

Jennifer Novelli of Building New Hope, one of the Community of Practice grant recipients, reflects on her positive experience at the Switchboard: “I joined Building New Hope in January 2015 as their new executive director. The chance to network and interact with the people and organizations at The Global Switchboard was a real plus for me in deciding to take a chance on the job… I am thrilled that our fair city has an internationally focused co-working space and community of practice.”

While we celebrate our successes, we’re also eager to grow and improve.

One major way the Switchboard hopes to continue growing is by expanding its membership options. Until this month, the Switchboard focused on seeding our coworking space with a committed group of members. But, we’ve always known that to truly become Pittsburgh’s home for Global Engagement our coalition needs to extend far, far beyond the walls of our coworking space. To solve this problem, we are launching a 3-tiered membership system. Now, individuals and groups can become contributing members of the Switchboard community independently of their need for physical working space. Introducing The Global Switchboard’s brand new multi-tiered membership system:

The Global Switchboard Full Tenant Members – $200/month

• Reserved desk
• Free, bottomless fair trade coffee
• Access to office amenities
• Unlimited access to reservable event & conference space
• Inclusion in the The Global Switchboard Newsletter
• Access to member and community of practice events
• The Global Switchboard Full Tenant Member badge

The Global Switchboard Half Tenant Members- $150/month

• Use of upstairs workspace for one employee/volunteer at a time
• Free, bottomless fair trade coffee
• Access to office amenities
• Unlimited access to reservable event & conference space
• Inclusion in the The Global Switchboard Newsletter
• Access to member and community of practice events
• The Global Switchboard Half Tenant Member badge

The Global Switchboard Network – $150/year

• Reduced rental rates for reservable event & conference space (members of the Network will be charged Standard Day Rates only, e.g. no increase for evening and weekends. See rental rates below.
• Inclusion in the The Global Switchboard Newsletter
• Access to community of practice events
• The Global Switchboard Network badge

Rental Rates

• Standard Day Rates (between 8am – 5pm)
  • $15/hour – Small Conference room
  • $15/hour – Large Conference room
  • $15/hour – Lounge
  • $25/hour – 2nd Floor Meeting room
• Evening/Weekend Rates (M-F anytime after 5pm, Saturday & Sunday all day)
  • $30/hour – Small Conference room
  • $30/hour – Large Conference room
  • $30/hour – Lounge
  • $50/hour – 2nd Floor Meeting room

We want to thank everyone who has made The Global Switchboard possible. We look forward to the new partnerships and projects the future will bring. We hope that individuals and organizations based in Pittsburgh will consider their own role within this community of practice by joining the coalition. Together we can take steps to create an interconnected global community where all people can fully engage to build a more socially just and equitable world.