Presentation by Dr Samantha Pearman-Kanza on "CaSDaR (The Careers and Skills for Data-Driven Research) Network+: Empowering Data Stewards for Research Excellence" for the STEP-UP 2025 Conference. The amount of data generated by research, is growing at an exponential rate. And yet, so much of this data is unusable, due to the lack of expertise, tools, and resources for effective data management. Data Stewards are the key to bridging the gap between data generation and reuse, as they have a fundamental role that ensures the quality, accuracy, accessibility and longevity of data across the entire data lifecycle. We place great value in data, but the current investment in the time and resources to drive forward data excellence is sorely lacking, and best practice like FAIR cannot be implemented without investing in data stewards. So, this is where CaSDaR comes in! We are a brand new UKRI Funded Network+, started in April 2025 and our goal is to establish a diverse, inclusive, self-sustaining community of Data Stewards and to create a model for data steward support systems within research intensive institutions, thereby clarifying their role and integration within the research data lifecycle. This talk will discuss the important role that data stewards play across the entire data lifecycle, introduce CaSDaR and our plans for the next four years, and explain how you can get involved!