First Global has helped establish a community of practice on alumni engagement in South Africa.
Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation hosted a workshop for organisations that provide scholarships for young South Africans and run programmes supporting their education, entrepreneurship and employment.
Participating organisations recognised that despite the support of their programming, young people, especially those who are marginalized by their economic status and race, still face immense challenges after they graduate. So the question of how to continue support for programme alumni in a sustainable and impactful way became one of the key issues discussed at the meeting.
Future First Global facilitators, Ján and Hannah, presented the benefits of establishing a community of practice amongst organisations that want to improve their alumni engagement. This would involve sharing and learning from each other about the various challenges and successes the had with alumni engagement activities.
Two participating organisations, Cannon Collins Trust and the Kadar Asmal Fellowship Alumni, shared their experiences in encouraging alumni to give back to make a positive impact in their communities or the facilitation of networking for job opportunities.
As these organisations shared their experiences, they tackled important questions: should alumni leadership roles be remunerated or voluntary? Should alumni be charged to attend events and pay membership fees? How do organisations promote active engagement without taking advantage of the alumni’s volunteered time?
The participants were keen to take the conversations forward and are hoping to arrange a series of practice workshops to share possible solutions that are specific to the South African context.
Future First Global hopes to replicate this model on a global scale in the near future and keep facilitating arising communities of practice.