COURTESY OF HEARSAY SOCIAL
COURTESY OF ANNIE RYU
postings, solicited advice, discussed world events, and even collaborated professionally. Each group is now approaching a thousand members. If anyone knew how to capitalize on social media, it was Clara Shih (2000, IL). First, she published a book called The Facebook Era, which the Alumni Association helped promote on social media and in its newsletter. Soon after, Clara founded a company called Hearsay Social that raised more than $50 million in funding from renowned Silicon Valley venture capital firms such as NEA and Sequoia Capital. Coincidentally, one of Sequoia’s partners, Pat Grady (2000, WY), also happened to be from Clara’s Scholar year. Although the two discovered the connection only after they had begun working together, it offered a powerful example of the potential for alumni collaboration. In 2012, Annie Ryu (2009, MN) told alumni about her new social enterprise, Global Village Fruits, which planned to import jackfruit from India to sell to people in the United States and use the proceeds to support the local community. After posts on Facebook as well as a spotlight in the Alumni Association
Left: Clara Shih (2000, IL), author of The Facebook Era. Above: Annie Ryu (2009, MN) with villagers in India.
newsletter, Annie raised thousands of dollars for her venture and began importing the jackfruit. It has made a significant impact on the lives of her partners in India. Service
In addition to social and professional networking, the Alumni Association began looking for ways to give back. In 2012, Kevin Weiss (2010, VT) and
friend, the late Sam Wee (1972, KS) in a post on the Alumni Association Facebook page after his death in 2012. “I met Sam at our very first NYC Presidential Scholars meet-up. With his kindness, insight, curiosity and humor, Sam was someone we always looked forward to seeing at our NYC gatherings,” she wrote. “We will miss him greatly.”
Social and Professional Networking
COURTESY OF PAM CHANG
The Alumni Association’s presence online quickly grew as Facebook and LinkedIn emerged as online gathering places for alumni. On Facebook, alumni posted about meet-ups held in various cities, books published, albums launched, and, of course, NRP in Washington, D.C. On LinkedIn, alumni shared job
Sussy Pan (2011, MI), Pam Chang (2011, CA), and Alejandro Jimenez Jaramillo (2011, CA) at a 2012 service project in Boston.
177 50 YEARS OF U.S. PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARS
In Pursuit of Excellence