The start of a pandemic might not be the ideal time to launch an alumni network for a private K-12 international school in China. But within three short years, Beijing City International School has developed a thriving global network of alumni who actively engage with one another, and have enriched the life and reputation of the school. Learn how one novice alumni relations officer with a small budget adopted innovative and agile strategies, overcame strict COVID-19 lockdowns, to build an alumni network that connects and strengthens the community. The speakers will share creative strategies that have proven to be effective and invite you to share strategies that work for your school.

Experience Level: Level 1 – Early Career, Level 2 – Emerging Early Career, Level 3 – Practicing/maturing Mid-Career

Topics: Alumni & Community Engagement

Learn how to bridge the gap between Year 12 and beyond so that young alumni feel supported, confident and work-ready as they transition. Create a young alumni pipeline into your reunion and careers programme that lasts a lifetime and encourages them to give back. Facilitate career and mentoring opportunities for young alumni so they can expand their networks, connect with older alumni, and build a sense of community and pride.

Experience Level: Level 3 - Practicing/Maturing Mid-Career

Topics: Alumni & Community Engagement             

Building your connection with international alumni can be exceptionally helpful in meeting campaign goals, building donor pipeline, and increasing annual donor numbers. It is important that we recognise that we live in a global society with fewer barriers between different cultures and countries, even if the different taxation rules make this a headache.

While all this sounds good on paper, the reality of making this happen has several steps. How do we engage with our alumni internationally with rising costs of travel? How do we make an ask when philanthropy has a different meaning to different cultures? Adam Ruble has had success with this while working in Australia and in the U.S. and he hopes that you will join him to discuss these programmes and the key steps to success. Adam’s goal is to help you get the conversation started at your organisation with a few easy-to-implement takeaways.

Experience Level: Level 3 - Practicing/Maturing Mid-Career

Topics: Alumni & Community Engagement Track

Traditions play a vital role on how students, alumni and the wider community form a connection with their school. Hear from practitioners from a variety of school backgrounds as they share the components that make a tradition, how to establish traditions (or sunset traditions) and workshop their own ideas with peers. This session is an opportunity to speak about the history and success of some key traditions, share any roadblocks you have encountered when trying to sunset traditions that didn’t fit with your strategic plan, and finally to showcase any innovative traditions you have since established.

Topics: Advancement Services Track

A discussion on the current challenges to avoiding a rote, paint-by numbers approach to alumni & community engagement, and why this is a common pain point for practitioners. Also hear from those that have leveraged engagement to contribute to the overall success of an advancement programme.

Topics: Alumni & Community Engagement Track

This session provides an opportunity to hear how others have successfully implemented effective mentoring schemes at their Schools and invite the audience to share the rollout and success of your mentoring programme, including ROI, and any learnings you have encountered.

Topics: Alumni & Community Engagement Track