ALUMNI RELATIONS
to completion and how many go on to engage with the school, or our alumni community, in additional ways. LBS is not just about knowledge and skills, but also about human connections that can be hard to measure. “We work a lot in partnership with our faculty and volunteers; seeing our alumni come back to campus or reconnecting with each other through clubs and events around the world is an important indication of success.” In what ways does your alumni network support current students and how do you facilitate such
One of the things I learned through my background in cross-platform media is that new channels will always emerge. While you can direct people to your preferred one, you can’t force them – especially if better options exist. “Social media is an amazing tool, but it isn’t for everyone and bridging the digital gap is critical to helping the community feel accessible to all. The two biggest challenges are managing updated personal details and flexibility, ie enabling people to connect and build relationships in the ways that work for them. Our school is uniquely positioned to have this flexibility and agility in its approach.” Looking ahead, what are the key priorities for the future development of your alumni network? What new strategies or initiatives are you exploring to enhance engagement and impact? “We recently launched our Forever Learning initiative; it provides extensive educational content, along with opportunities to engage. As part of that, we’ve created Discovery Circles that form small discussion groups across our alumni, thereby allowing them to make deeper connections with each other while keeping up to date with the latest in business thinking. “We will continue to build on that offering and we are exploring our alumni digital experience comprehensively. Technology moves at pace, so we want to make sure we are capitalising on those advancements to facilitate the most meaningful connections – both across our community and with the school. “At LBS we say we want to have a profound impact on the way the world does business and the way business impacts the world. It’s a high bar, but our community deserves nothing less.”
RAMSEY SARGENT Executive director of alumni engagement London Business School What are the biggest challenges you face in engaging alumni with the business school and with each other, particularly across different generations and geographic locations? “London Business School (LBS) is a global institution, with campuses in London and Dubai. Our 56,000 alumni live in 160 countries around the world. They recognise how important our community is and are regularly connecting with each other and the school to share their updates, opportunities and expertise. “One of our biggest challenges is trying to keep track of it all in order to facilitate even more meaningful connections. Another challenge is staying current and updated on those issues that our alumni face in this rapidly changing world, so that we can develop our offer accordingly.” How do you measure the success and impact of your alumni network initiatives, beyond just participation rates? What metrics are most important to you and how do you track them? “Participation in any initiative is a useful metric and while we look to reach as many of our alumni as possible, we also know that more meaningful connections form over time and directly. When we evaluate our initiatives we look at how many people see the opportunity through
connections (eg mentoring programmes, career advice, networking events)?
“Whether recent or more seasoned, our alumni love coming to speak to current students and hearing what they have to say. Our role in the alumni engagement team is to support those connections as much as possible. “Whether it involves speaking at student conferences, working with our Career Centre or guest-lecturing with our faculty, we encourage our alumni to come back – either in person or virtually – and share their expertise and wisdom with our current students. These opportunities start both informally and formally and are incredibly rewarding to the alumni and students who participate.” How has technology changed the way you connect with and engage your alumni network? What digital tools or platforms have been most effective and what are their limitations? “Staying agile and on top of digital is always a challenge – particularly as new alumni enter the community with tools you haven’t come across before.
Ambition • ISSUE 3 • 2025 33
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