Introducing The Young Alumni Council
The Faculty of Land and Food Systems is piloting its first Young Alumni Council (YAC) – a team of volunteer alumni members dedicated to sharing their talent and skills with recent UBC graduates through networking, professional development, entrepreneurship, and community engagement opportunities.
Following his involvement with the launch of the YAC at the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Engineering, Development Officer James Wang aims to replicate the success of the self-sustaining program at LFS with support from Dean Rickey Yada and Alumni Relations Manager Niki Glenning.
In late 2022, Wang and Glenning set out to recruit volunteers to fill the leadership roles on the YAC and nearly 80 applicants responded. The 16-member council is led by President Kimia Nozadi (BSc Food, Nutrition and Health 2020), VP Professional Development Misa Gillis (BSc Global Resource Systems 2020), VP Networking Akshaya Jayaseelan (MSc Food Science 2018), and VP
Entrepreneurship Bhavana Rao (MSc Food Science 2018).
LFS has more than 3,000 alumni who have graduated within the past 10 years (2012-2022). The new council has the vision of empowering these alumni by leading the creation of a Young Alumni Program that will build lifelong relationships between alumni, students, community members, and industry partners through programming and events.
In early May, the YAC hosted its inaugural reception to introduce their initiatives. The LFS-led pilot has captured the interest of alumni engagement teams across UBC and should it prove to be successful, the model may be adopted by other Faculties.
For more information about the Young Alumni Council, visit their page here or email Niki Glenning and James Wang at lfs.youngalumni@ubc.ca.
Tagged with: 2023, Alumni, Young Alumni Council