Recognising Racism

ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT Andrew Mitchell

Having graduated from St Catherine’s College back in 1989, at the end of November 2019 I returned to Oxford and joined Pembroke as Alumni Engagement Officer following a long and varied career in business. My first few months were spent meeting and talking to alumni about how I could improve and develop the ways Pembroke engages with them. By March 2020, a plan was formulated and ready to implement. Unfortunately, that is also when the pandemic surfaced, forcing the postponement of all face-to-face alumni events. Although we have missed being able to welcome alumni back to Pembroke and meet you all in-person at some of our events outside of Oxford, these past few months have allowed us to accelerate our plans to develop more ways to engage with alumni online. We have been able to run more events, with bigger audiences, and with a wider global reach. Despite the pandemic, 2020 has been a good year for increasing the number of alumni engaging with the Pembroke Community, and we will continue to work on developing our plans in 2020/21.

The Alumni Advisory Board (AAB)

https://www.pmb.ox.ac.uk/aab The Alumni Advisory Board (AAB) has been re-energised and welcomed some new members. Current Chair, Steve Atkinson (1973, PPE), emphasises that “the purpose of the AAB is to promote the College as a ‘family’. We are seeking to re-engage and build relationships with alumni and their families, particularly those not previously engaged with the College, by continuous communication and attractive events. By that means we aim to secure a high and improving reputation for the College and pride from alumni.” Over the years many alumni have built up their own informal networks of Pembroke contacts, made up of friends from their student days along with newer contacts from shared academic and professional interests, or those who live or work in the same areas. In 2020 we decided to build on these foundations by launching our Alumni Ambassador Programme as a way to increase engagement levels amongst alumni and with the College. Alumni Ambassadors will all be volunteers who set up and help to run Alumni Groups, which will be based loosely around year-groups, subject, specialist interests or regions. The groups will allow alumni to connect virtually, organise events and meet new people. The College Development Team is helping to set up and develop each Alumni Group. In collaboration with the Alumni Advisory Board (AAB) we have written an Ambassador Toolkit to support and guide our volunteers through the process. Ambassadors will benefit from dedicated support in relation to: our communications network and promotional material; guidance on event costs and logistics; an Annual Conference for Alumni; and in-depth briefings on College matters. If you would like to know more about our Alumni Ambassador Programme please contact Andrew Mitchell.

Pembroke Connects

https://www.pmb.ox.ac.uk/connects Pembroke Connects was launched in March 2020, providing a digital hub on the College website with links to video content, blogs, how-to seminars, concerts, memories, and volunteer opportunities. It is linked to the monthly e-bulletin that is sent to all alumni and friends of the College. Readership continues to grow and has now reached 3,500 on average per month.

Pembroke Links

https://www.pmb.ox.ac.uk/links In 8th week of Trinity term 2020 we launched Pembroke Links, which is an online hub for people seeking mentors and those willing to be mentors. The hub provides students and alumni access to careers-focused video resources, including interviews of alumni by students and talks produced by alumni offering career advice about various professions and occupations. Featured alumni and others who have offered to act as mentors can be contacted by joining the Pembroke College Mentoring Group on LinkedIn. In the next 12 months we will be expanding this resource to include a directory of alumni who are willing to be mentors with short descriptions of their careers. Although still in its early days the plan is that eventually every student and alumnus will have access to a mentor if they so wish, selected from the alumni community.