“The longer you stay on the wrong train, the more expensive the ride home will be.”
Japanese Proverb

2025 taught me a lot.

Not just about ERGs—but about what actually works when you’re trying to build a sustainable, scalable, low-lift community program inside of a company that wasn’t built for it. Across dozens of client engagements, workshops, program managing 4 ERG programs, dashboards, calls, fires I helped put out (and fires I helped prevent), a few patterns kept showing up again and again.

Whether you're new to ERG program strategy or neck-deep in fixing a system that barely works, here are the 13 lessons I’m taking with me into the new year:

This was one of the biggest realizations I had: we talk about ERGs being "employee-led" to avoid taking responsibility, but the truth is they’re company-led and employee-powered. If the company sets the expectations, structure, and scope, then when the program fails—it’s on us. I've watched time and again how the strength or stagnation of a program ties directly to the ERG PM. It’s not about volunteers lacking effort; it’s that volunteers can’t carry something this big alone. If the PM isn’t intentional, the program won’t just struggle—it’ll drop every gain after each leadership transition.

I said this back in 2025 and I’ll say it louder in 2026: if you’re ignoring legal risk in your ERG program, you’re giving folks a reason to shut it down. Think about unions, access, equity in leadership, and public-facing programming. You can see the boats on the water headed for your shoreline—why wouldn’t you shore up your defenses? This isn’t about fear-mongering; it’s about being smart. That’s why I’ve pushed the so-called hot takes for years to make sure we’re staying safe.

We love to claim ERG leadership builds skills, but have you really defined which skills specifically your program helps to develop? That’s a problem. Volunteering for an ERG is a huge lift. What are people getting in return? Aside from a feel-good sense of helping a community they care about, what’s the actual benefit? Define it. Otherwise you’ll keep struggling to fill roles and retain leaders.

Too many handbooks are still riddled with jargon, complex phrasing, and passive voice. You’re not smarter because your documentation is hard to read. In fact, you’re making your program worse. Want people to execute more regularly? Take on the cognitive load yourself. Make it extremely simple. If a brand-new intern can’t pick it up and know what to do, it’s not done yet.

This one unlocked a major mindset shift for me. "Process" is not just SOPs. It’s the system behind the scenes that makes sure things happen—without needing your constant oversight. That’s your Operating System. Most programs don’t have an automated one. Instead, the PM is the operating system. And that’s why balls drop, deadlines are missed, and momentum dies the second someone takes PTO.

We’ve made ERGs harder than they need to be. With the right setup, a fully functioning ERG can run on just 10–20 hours per quarter—total. Not per person. Not per month. Per quarter. But only if you define what I call the Minimum Viable Month (MVM) or Minimum Viable Quarter (MVQ). Without that, leaders either do way too much or nothing at all. Set the bar clearly, and watch the chaos settle.

Many think they want extensive training and certificates. What they actually want is simplicity. They don’t want to sort through 87 slides—they want a clear answer. Make their lives easier, and your entire program will benefit.

Even if you’ve got a solid system, if your onboarding is weak or inconsistent, none of it matters. Most programs throw new ERG leads into the fire. What you need is a consistent, simple onboarding experience across ERGs—ideally 2–3 hours max. It doesn’t need to be a 10-hour certification course. But it does need to make the leader feel ready.

This one might ruffle feathers. But exec sponsors are not your biggest problem. Programs are spending too much energy trying to get execs to show up when the "house" still isn’t clean. Before we invite executives to the ERG “party,” we need to make sure the structure is solid. They’re not the solution to chaos—they’re the cherry on top of an already working system.

Positioning ERGs as internal marketing engines works. It reframes the program in a way executives immediately understand: segmented engagement, employee advocacy, retention. Frame it like that, and suddenly they’re listening. Use smart, clear language—not fluff.

This one hurts. But it’s real. If your company isn’t ready for authenticity, no amount of documentation or structure will make the program meaningful. You can still make it look good, but stop trying to turn performative companies into authentic ones via backdoor ERG efforts. Build the best version you can within your constraints—and to do this you MUST know where the limits are.

Every program should categorize events this way:

If all your programs fall into one category, you’re only serving a fraction of your membership. Mix it up. And while you’re at it—diversify formats, too. Not just panels and fireside chats.

Want better applicants for open roles? Start with better programming. Engagement drives visibility. Visibility drives trust. And trust leads to volunteers stepping up. I’ve seen it firsthand—the programs with the best engagement have the easiest time filling roles.

These aren’t ideas. They’re patterns. I’ve seen every one of these show up across programs in different industries, budgets, and maturity levels. If your ERG program is chaotic, underperforming, or just not getting the traction it should—chances are, at least one of these is the reason.

Let me know which of these hit hardest—or what you’re taking into 2026 with you.