An Overview of GLIA And Its Member Islands
Since 2017, the Great Lakes Islands Alliance has been connecting islanders and amplifying their voices. As core functions, GLIA hosts robust Zoom discussions every month plus the annual Great Lakes Islands Summit. Our membership is now over 150 people from 20 different islands - the crown jewels of the Great Lakes!
Click on the map for a quick overview of the member islands in the alliance. More detail and more photos are in the island showcase below.
Clicking on the map will also take you to links for more information on the 20 member islands.
Our Mission is to encourage relationship building, foster information exchange, and leverage resources to address shared challenges and embrace opportunities
to benefit islands.
Our Vision is to support our individual islands for current and future generations, honoring their distinct cultures and character, while growing the collective impact of the interisland network.
Great Lakes Islands Alliance (GLIA) is a voluntary, bi-national, collaborative network that brings together individuals from year-round island communities
across the Great Lakes.
GLIA organizes its efforts into two separate but not exclusive focus areas. First, Environmental Stewardship seeks to protect and conserve the natural environment on islands. Island communities care about Great Lakes water quality and quantity, biodiversity conservation, pollution prevention, waste management, recycling, and climate adaptation and resiliency. Second, Socio-Economic Wellbeing seeks to foster a robust quality of life for year-round islanders, seasonal residents, and visitors alike. GLIA explores topics as diverse as tourism, blue economy (water-based) opportunities, health and safety, education, housing, infrastructure, cultural/historic heritage, and local governance and capacity.
DONATIONS
Your philanthropic gifts to GLIA are appreciated and crucial to our overall operations. GLIA is fiscally sponsored by The Stewardship Network, which accepts and administers charitable donations on GLIA’s behalf. The Stewardship Network is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and your charitable contribution is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by the law.
If you have any questions about supporting GLIA financially or otherwise, please contact Lisa Paul Sierk, Fundraising Specialist, at lpaulsierk@stewardshipnetwork.org.
To donate by credit card: click the "Donate to GLIA" button below to visit GLIA’s donation page, hosted by The Stewardship Network.
To donate by check: please make payable to The Stewardship Network noting “GLIA” in the memo, and mail to:
Great Lakes Islands Alliance
c/o The Stewardship Network
416 Longshore Dr.
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
Group photo of most of the 2022 GLIA Summit attendees
The 2022 Great Lakes Islands Summit
on October 2 - 5, 2022 was a great success.
After two years of pandemic delays, the voluntary, bi-national Great Lakes Islands Alliance (GLIA) recently held its marquee event, the Great Lakes Islands Summit, across four island communities in Lake Erie: South Bass (Put-in-Bay), Middle Bass, and Kelleys Islands in Ohio and Pelee Island in Ontario. This was GLIA’s fourth such Summit since 2017 and the first to span multiple islands. The Summit rotates to a different island(s) each year and allows that community to showcase its successes and challenges to visiting leaders from other islands across the vast Great Lakes region and beyond.
In 2022, a total of 89 participants came from eight states and one province, including as
far away as Maine and Florida. This included islanders from 13 Great Lakes island
communities plus additional partners and advocates from mainland organizations. As a
sign of the times, a number of additional people sent late regrets and had to cancel due
to family, COVID, professional commitments, and even Hurricane Ian complications.
Meeting Narrative
Full Summary
Appendix A - Sponsors
GLIA News February 1, 2023
Our newest island video "Amherst Island Comes Alive" will introduce you to this beautiful island at the east end of Lake Ontario on the Canadian side and is available here.
For a complete list of our island videos, take a look at our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@greatlakesislandsalliance.
Our 2022 Annual Report has been published and describes our excellent progress towards meetings our goals for the year.
was held on February 24, 2022 and featured Kate Tagai of the Island Institute in Maine
speaking about their development of a leadership framework for islands
and the successes they have had with it. Click on the above image to view it.
HEALTHY, SUSTAINABLE ISLAND COMMUNITIES.
While present-day island communities are uniquely distinct from one another in character, traditions, and geography, they share a number of complex, inter-related challenges, including: access to public services and quality education; supporting a diversified economy; managing natural, cultural, and historical resources across public and private boundaries; and changing demographics (size, age, seasonality, ownership, economic status, etc.).
These challenges are hurdles, not immovable barriers. In fact, some island communities have already independently developed their own “island solutions to island challenges.” Island communities are finding they often have more in common with one another than to their adjacent mainland. There is great value in islanders learning from other islanders about best practices that work, as well as those that don’t.
Great Lakes Islands Alliance Programs
GLIA In the News
Island Updates
Reports from past great lakes islands summits
ISLAND SHOWCASE
Resources & Webinar
Resources
- Find actionable steps to island challenges in the Island Institute's What Works Solutions Library
- Make connections and exchange information at islandscoalition.slack.com
- Check out the Great Lakes Islands Community Resource Directory.
Webinar: Great Lakes Water Levels 101
Learn about Great Lakes water levels from one of the leading experts in the region, Andrew Gronewold, PhD, PE, physical scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)–Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory and adjunct professor at the University of Michigan.
watch webinar
webinar Q&A
2019 Great Lakes Islands Basketball Tournament
The tournament was held on Dec. 6-7, 2019 on Mackinac Island. Teams were from Washington Island (Lake Michigan), Mackinac Island (Lake Huron), South Bass Island (Lake Erie) and Beaver Island (Lake Michigan).
