CI Alumni Association 2019-2021 Report

Creative Industries Alumni Association

2019–2021 Report

Who we are

ABOUT THE CIAA Who we are

The CIAA advances the School of Creative Industries and acts as a professional and social resource for its network of graduates worldwide.

OUR GOALS Re/Connect • Maintain and enhance relationships between the School of Creative Industries and its alumni • Engage with current students and student associations affiliated with the School Support • Promote the development of Creative Industries alumni through reunions, networking events, and other opportunities for intellectual and professional enrichment • Invest in current and future Creative Industries students by cultivating a base of philanthropic support Advocate • Further the interests of alumni working within the creative industries • Champion the development of diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in the creative industries

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What we’ve accomplished

When our term began in May of 2019, we aimed to organize two in-person events a year—four in total over the course of our term.

We held our second (and final) in-person event in March 2020, just days before the COVID-19 pandemic forced us all to shift to virtual modes of gathering. Yet despite this, the CIAA was able to expand our reach, strengthen our network, and deliver programming that responded directly to what alumni wanted.

Over the past two years, we have been (and still are!) inspired by the diverse paths our peers take, and the great things they accomplish.

We have been energized and committed to amplifying the diversity and strength of our network of graduates We hope this report reflects that energy and commitment.

Several months into the pandemic, we sent out a survey to Creative Industries alumni, asking what they wanted to see from the CIAA. The events and initiatives we organized in the remainder of our term responded directly to what we heard.

SUMMARY What we’ve accomplished

Our weekly #cribabies feature allowed graduates to catch up on each other’s lives despite our inability to socialize and reconnect in person, while our bi-monthly “How the Heck” Zoom workshops were directly informed by requests for professionally-oriented content.

We are also extremely proud of how, by inviting alumni to lead some of these workshops, we were able to fulfill our mandate to promote our alumni’s professional development in multiple ways.

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CIAA 2019-2021

BY THE NUMBERS CIAA 2019-2021

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NEW SOCIAL CHANNEL CREATED

6

IN-PERSON + VIRTUAL EVENTS HOSTED

24 MEETINGS HELD

37

ALUMNI PROFILED + PROMOTED

108% 150 $395

GROWTH IN INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS SINCE 2019

NEW FOLLOWERS ON LINKEDIN

IN HONORARIUMS PAID TO ALUMNI

RE/CONNECT Back to School Pub Night

Industry Connect

#cribabies

SUPPORT Zoom Workshops

CIAA Linkedin

ADVOCATE Creative Industries EDI Working Group

Our goals

Engage with current students and student associations affiliated with the School

RE/CONNECT Maintain and enhance relationships between the School of Creative Industries and its alumni

Our goals

BACK TO SCHOOL PUB NIGHT Date: September 18, 2019 Our first CIAA event was a back-to-school themed social held at the Firkin on Yonge.

In keeping with the theme, we developed promotional content featuring vignettes of the Ryerson campus.

As a group activity, we designed a Final Examstyle pub quiz featuring content from the core CRI classes from 1st year to 4th year.

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INDUSTRY CONNECT Date: March 5, 2020 Together with the School of Creative Industries and the CICU, we hosted a professional networking event where approximately 140 students and alumni connected with 25 industry folks.

CIAA industry connections from Nordicity and Bruce Mau Design also participated.

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#CRIBABIES CAMPAIGN Date: October 2020 - May 2021 33 alumni featured In Fall 2020, we launched #cribabies, a social media series featuring CRI grads. We placed special emphasis on showing as diverse a range of graduates and trajectories as possible.

Given the slowed economy and the pandemic, we felt it was important to balance the School’s features of graduate “success stories” with stories of alumni who were pursuing paths not necessarily built around a conventional 9-5 job in a creative sector.

Many alumni were open and honest about their experiences post-CRI. They shared the pressures they felt to find a job immediately after graduation, the highs and lows of pivoting career paths, pursuing further education, or moving to a new city, and the importance of taking time to pause and reflect.

The posts have consistently gotten great engagement, with an average of 72 likes per post. They have also led to alumni reaching out to one another to connect and learn more about each others’ fields and ambitions.

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Our goals

Promote the development of Creative Industries alumni through reunions, networking events, and other opportunities for intellectual and professional enrichment

SUPPORT Invest in current and future Creative Industries students by cultivating a base of philanthropic support

Our goals

ZOOM WORKSHOP #1

How the Heck Do You Find A Job During COVID-19?!

Date: November 12, 2020 With: Emma Hartley, FCAD Careers CIAA President Melody McMullan and FCAD Career Education Specialist Emma Hartley cohosted a session on job hunting in the pandemic.

Content included search strategies, job boards and employment groups, as well as resources and tools offered by Ryerson Careers.

The session included a presentation from Emma, as well as a Q&A segment based on questions submitted by attendees.

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ZOOM WORKSHOP #2

How the Heck Do I Build My Personal Brand?!

Date: January 13, 2021 With: Marc Gamboa, Class of 2018 In response to survey requests for workshops on professionalizing your online presence and building a personal platform, we invited Marc Gamboa to deliver a personal branding workshop. The content of the workshop covered goal-setting and visioning, as well as practical tips and resources for developing a branded online presence.

The workshop was based on Marc’s experiences as a digital marketer, as well as content he had developed as part of Soho House Toronto’s Open House mentorship program.

He was paid a $200 honorarium to organize and deliver this workshop.

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ZOOM WORKSHOP #3 How the Heck Do I Freelance?!

Date: March 30, 2021 With: Sidrah Khatoon, Class of 2017, Cassie Chan, Class of 2017, and Sarah Johnson, Class of 2018 Our final Zoom workshop was a panel on the ins and outs of freelancing, moderated by CIAA President Melody McMullan.

We invited copywriter Sarah Johnson and graphic designers Sidrah Khatoon and Cassie Chan to share their tips on how to find freelance clients, insights on freelancing part-time vs. fulltime, and best practices for managing finances.

Each panelist was given a $65 honorarium for their participation.

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CIAA LINKEDIN Given the economic downturn precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the CIAA recognized that many graduates were experiencing difficulty finding jobs.

As recent alumni ourselves,we often came across job opportunities well-suited to a Creative Industries graduate. In December 2020, we created a CIAA LinkedIn as a venue to casually share the opportunities we encountered organically through our personal networks.

In just 6 months, we gained 150 followers.

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Our goals

Further the interests of alumni working within the creative industries

ADVOCATE Champion the development of diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in the creative industries

Our goals

RYERSON SCHOOL OF CREATIVE INDUSTRIES: STUDENT EDI REPORT SUBMITTED TO: DR. CHRIS GIBBS, CHAIR

EQUITY, DIVERSITY and INCLUSION WORKING GROUP CIAA Vice President Daphne Chan acted as a representative for students and alumni at the School of Creative Industries’ EDI Working Group.

“I greatly benefited from the Program. My experience with the School has been positive so it’s less about any negative experience and more about how it could be better.” 2018 graduate.

Together with the School and the CICU, the CIAA promoted and invited Creative Industries students and alumni to participate in a consultation that would inform the School’s actions to improve diversity and inclusion in the program.

Submitted by: Amorell Saunders N'Daw, BAA, M.Ed. APRIL 2021 |

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2019-2021

EXECUTIVE TEAM 2019-2021

President Vice President Vice President Secretary Secretary Treasurer Director-at-Large Director-at-Large

Melody McMullan ‘18 Daphne Chan ‘18 Ash Ng ‘17 Natalia Holeksa ‘19 Maeve Jewiss ‘18 Alexis Rau ‘17 Claire Fisher ‘17 Saura Haggart-Smith ‘18

CIAA Executive Teams 2017–2019, 2019–2021

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2021-2023

EXECUTIVE TEAM 2021-2023

President Vice President Vice President Secretary Treasurer Director-at-Large Director-at-Large

Grace Li ‘20 Hana Glaser ‘19 Cyrus Man ‘21 Barbara Camargo ‘18 Garnet Clarence ‘19 Maeve Badger ‘21 Nicole Kanga ‘20

CIAA Executive Teams 2019–2021, 2021–2023

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