Creating a Centralized Alumni Experience at New York University

Hi, my name is Jesse Tompkins. I am the assistant director of volunteer engagement at New York University and I work in alumni relations. The name of our PeopleGrove platform is the Violet Network. We work with our ninety two alumni clubs and we manage all of our alumni volunteers. And then we collaborate with the Wasserman Center for Career Development. One of the biggest challenges we face at NYU is how big our network is and how many existing programs there are across the university. And I feel like the Violet network has really provided the space to sort of centralize a lot of those programs that exist and consolidate them. So in my work, one of the big focuses this year has been mentorship. So figuring out what mentorship programs already exist and then bringing them into the platforms. I think where we'd ultimately like to be with the platform is that students and alumni can come to it as sort of a one stop shop no matter what school they're a part of and they get sort of a consistent experience on there. I launched a mentor program this past year with the NYU Women's Initiative and we had like a big kickoff ceremony for the program, and it was just a joy to see people connecting and meeting their mentor and realizing that they're a real person and they have great experience and that the matching tool on the platform worked successfully for them. But the feedback that we get from the students we do work with is is incredible. The mentorship that they receive from alumni, they say is invaluable. And our network of alumni is so big, I feel like we like are really missing an opportunity if we're connecting them directly with students. Whenever I sort of give a presentation on the Violet Network, I explain what it is and then everyone's face sort of lights up and they have so many questions about it. I think awareness and visibility of the platform is key. We've developed sort of this three year strategic plan to gain awareness, get it out there. So one effective way that we've gained adoption onto the platform is to combine both in person activations with email campaigns and online engagement. What I love most about the Violet Network, I think is it's potential for connection. I think it it works best when people go into it thinking they can find their next job, they can mentor someone and make a difference, like this platform is going to change my life somehow. Every issue I've encountered, every problem I've had, I've found a solution to and the people at People Grove have have helped me think through it. I was not alone ever in the in the process. I always had help. I could always ask questions. I think PeopleGrove has done a great job of working with us at our scale. I mean NYU is a huge institution and we work with a lot of people that have different strategic visions for their sectors and their schools, it's still providing a sort of centralized experience for people while giving us the functionalities we need in our individual areas to tell a great story.