SYSTEMS-LEVEL SOLUTIONS FOR PARTNERSHIP WITH ALUMNI OF COLOR

The Calhoun School is a private K-12 school on NYC’s Upper West Side, and its Alumni of Color Network (ACN) is an affinity group with the goals of providing a welcoming space for alumni and addressing DEI discrepancies in the school. The client engaged a Capstone team to provide recommendations for formalizing the ACN with an eye toward sustainable capacity building. Given that the ACN comprises a network of volunteers, the client specifically sought systems to make the school partnership with the ACN more efficient and impactful. The Capstone team conducted an internal scan, which included data from working group sessions with alumni of color and surveys administered to current students and alumni, and an external scan looking at similar efforts in comparable organizations. The team delivered a literature review on best practices for alumni networks and presented its findings and recommendations to stakeholders. Based on its research findings and feedback garnered from its presentation, the team produced a final report including guidance and tools salient for current use, and recommendations for building a sustainable partnership.