With recent advances in data availability, models, statistics, and policy, the time is ripe for rapid progress in making ecology more predictive. Consequently, the practice of ecological forecasting, i.e., the process of predicting the future states of ecological systems and ecological services with fully specified uncertainties, is rapidly expanding within ecology. With this growth comes a need to share information about new approaches for model-data assimilation, quantification and analysis of uncertainties, community standards, best practices, and more. In response to this gap, the Ecological Forecasting Initiative (EFI) was formed as an interdisciplinary, grassroots consortium to being together scientists, managers, and policymakers developing near-term (daily to decadal) ecological forecasts. EFI’s overarching goal - to advance ecological forecasting within the ecology research community - is motivated by the goal to improve our ability to respond to complex environmental challenges by providing environmental decision-makers with the best available science in hand. This session brings together ecologists from a diversity of study systems to highlight cutting-edge examples of near-term ecological forecasting that span ecosystem boundaries, time scales, and basic/applied applications, emphasizing the utility and need for the EFI within the ecological community. This session highlights speakers from across a range of career stages tackling ecological forecasting problems that directly provide data and models to inform environmental decision-makers.