About a year ago, #NCSM19 attendees were part of micro-philanthropy movement called the Social Butterfly.  My friend, Tasha Wahl, founded the Butterfly Effect in 2013, in which she combined Mahatma Gandhi’s quote, “Be the change you want to see in the world” with Edward Lorenz’s “Butterfly Effect” theory that even the softest flutter of a wing can affect the molecules around it, setting off a chain reaction that produces major change. Attendees who took pictures in front of Social Butterfly at the 2019 NCSM Annual Conference and shared the photos on social media, helped NCSM raise $500 for the Iris Carl Travel Grant

We planned to continue the new tradition at #NCSM20 in Chicago, but we are not headed to Chicago this week.  However, not being together with the ability to physically be in front of our social butterfly is not going to stop us! 

NCSM invites you to #bethechange again and submit your selfie with one of the #butterflyBTC social butterflies. For each selfie submitted via email to   by 4/10/2020, a $1.00 will be donated to the NCSM Iris Travel Grant Award. 

Here are the steps to participate. 

  1. Print one of the butterflies or display it on your computer, laptop or iPad.
    1. The first version is colored and ready for the selfie. Click HERE for the first version. 
    2. The second version is a blank butterfly to show us your creativity.  Click HERE for the second version. 
  2. Take a selfie with the butterfly. 
  3. Email the selfie to to by 4/10/2020. 
  4. Optional but our favorite step: Be sure to post on social media and use #butterflyBTC and tag @mathedleaders. 

NCSM established the Iris Carl Mathematics Leadership Fund, within the NCSM Charitable Trust, which endows the Grant. As long as there are sufficient funds, NCSM will annually provide up to three Iris Carl Grant Awards for Travel to eligible NCSM members to attend the NCSM Annual Conference.

The fund is supported by generous donations from individuals. To support the fund, you may use the QR code to donate via the Facebook Fundraiser or you can mail a check in any amount payable to: NCSM Charitable Trust and mail to: Linda Griffith, NCSM Treasurer, PO Box 3406, Englewood, CO 80155.

Thank you in advance for your support of this important award with our fundraiser. We look forward to seeing your pictures soon. Here are some of the 2019-2020 NCSM board members showing how they can #bethechange! 

Finally, congratulations to the three awardees of the 2020 Iris Carl Travel Grant Award for Chicago!  Since they were not able to use their awards for Chicago, each Award will be used for the NCSM Summit in St. Louis, MO or the NCSM Annual Conference in Atlanta, GA in 2021.