Final Year – Time to Refocus
You’re entering your final year and it’s an electric time of year. Motivations are high, there’s anticipation of the increased intensity and aspirations for grades are set. It seems to be the pinnacle of all your hard work – graduation, the final hurdle. But I implore you to pause and question – is the […]
Inspiring TEDx talks for alumni (and celebrating my own TEDx alumni!)
On the 12th of April 2018, I stepped on the red dot and gave my TEDx. This moment was the culmination of weeks of practice and crafting an accessible TEDx talk on alumni. 6 minutes later my TEDxBallybofey talk was born. ‘We are all connected by one word: Alumni’ – Maria Gallo – TEDxBallybofey You […]
Share, Care and Dare in Alumni Relations: staying the course
It’s 2:30am on the 12th of March 2020. My husband woke me to detail the news that the US was planning an imminent closure of their international borders. He figured Canada would follow. At 3:00am we booked flights to Canada for a few weeks to wait out this unfolding situation. A few weeks turned into […]
Take up the Baton: Orchestrating alumni serendipity!
What inspires and motivates alumni relations professionals? Seeing harmonious moments of alumni connections unfold creating incredible melodies. Students and alumni learning, alumni-alumni mentoring, alumni taking on the world. These interludes can happen at alumni events, through programs like formal mentorship or just hearing about them by chance. Oh, how this is music to our ears! […]
Networking is changing? Dive in and learn more!
How is networking changing? Taking a break from some deep work, I found myself on a journey down a path to exploring this question. Hint: it involves alumni, habit and impact. The full article is published on LinkedIn: Something has changed about networking…hint it involves alumni and impact Here’s a snippet: “we can offer students […]
Thinking of Grad School? Think Alumni first!
When Graduate Matters section of University Affairs Magazine asked me to write an article on alumni, I sprang into action. Alumni do matter, especially when thinking about an investment as significant as taking up grad school. Postgraduate study is a an investment of time and money (not to mention the grey hair and intellectual epiphanies!). In the original […]
Yes, I’m an Alumni Romantic
Last year, in the throes of trying to finish my final book manuscript and in the middle of yet another COVID-19 lockdown, I had a bout of alumni romanticism. It was inevitable: I was writing and talking about alumni all the time, immersed in its potential. This article was the result- and apart from the […]
5 Must-Read Articles on Networks for Alumni Professionals
Alumni networks are powerful. As alumni professionals, we know this is to be true in our gut. After two years of creative and innovation programming as part of a great alumni relations pivot, we are tired and need a momentum boost. The purpose of this post to give you a chance to dive in and […]
“Don’t be afraid to create and foster social impact networks.” Making a case for alumni networks with impact
As another follow-up to the HundrED Innovation Summit, fellow HundrED workshop facilitator Dr Ján Michalko and Katija Aladin (Head of Community for HundrED) reflected on the learning (and the quotes!) from the Summit Workshop in a recent HundrED blog article. The Alumni Way founder and author Dr Maria Gallo was quoted frequently in the article […]
The Social Impact of Networks: A new World Economic Forum article
In November 2021, I participate as a member of a terrific workshop panel for the HundrED Innovation Summit. The workshop was entitled: Networks Transforming Education. InHive assembled this amazing panel of facilitators from around the world. With the electricity from the online event still sparking post-event, we agreed to write an article of our experiences of […]