YAA Strategic Plan
Our new strategic plan needed to be grounded in data and to prioritize focus areas where we could invest our time and resources to be excellent. We needed to provide talent and tools to partner with volunteers to engage in spaces where alumni want the YAA in their lives. We couldn’t get there without listening deeply.
Alison E. Cole ’99, YAA Executive Director
The Four Strategic Points
Throughout the alumni listening process, feedback indicated that alumni want Yale to be part of their lives in four areas of interest: service, lifelong learning, social connection, and professional development and mentoring. These four points represent the strategic direction of this plan.
Info Accordions
Service has long been an integral part of the Yale experience. The YAA helps alumni take what they learned on campus and give back for the greater good. The YAA helps alumni do this by celebrating Day of Service through local or virtual service projects, supporting others in the Yale community through mentorship, or traveling in groups to make a difference in communities around the world.
What's Next:
- Invest in technological infrastructure to more easily find and better match alumni with service opportunities*
- Increase the number of domestic Service Corps trips to make them more inclusive and less expensive
- Offer more virtual and recurring opportunities for service
- Provide updated volunteer tools, training, and community resources
- Recognize mentoring, volunteering for Yale, and other university service as service opportunities
*Already started
Learning is critical to the Yale experience, and the YAA seeks to position its learning programs as alumni benefits that add value throughout their lives. Our long-term offerings currently include opportunities for alumni to learn online, on campus, in their local area, and through travel. Yale Alumni College (YACOL) is a program led by alumni for alumni that offers courses, outings, and events that reconnect graduates with the Yale experience. Yale Alumni Academy (YAAC), managed by YAA staff, brings Yale faculty and scholarship to alumni worldwide through online mini-seminar webinars, on-campus summer immersion courses, and faculty-led travel. Learning opportunities are also integrated into Regional Clubs (including the Redpath faculty speaker series), the YAA Assembly and Yale Alumni Fund Convocation, Yale College Reunions, and Shared Interest Group (SIG) activities.
What's Next:
- Pilot short, lower-cost domestic and international travel opportunities including family-friendly options
- Grow the existing Alumni Academy on-campus summer immersion programming
- Strengthen promotion of the Redpath faculty speaker series in regional clubs throughout the world
- Improve awareness of Yale College class auditing program
- Partner with the DeVane Lecture series to provide discussion sections for alumni*
*Already started
Friendship and social connection are a part of everything we do at YAA, whether we are providing opportunities to reconnect with old friends or to build new bonds around shared affiliations, interests, and experiences. One of the most valuable services the YAA can provide is creating space for Yalies to foster genuine, fortifying relationships throughout their lives.
What's Next:
- Partner with volunteers to provide proof-of-concept programs that are inclusive and welcoming; of interest to alumni in different life stages; and intentional about cultivating connection among a wide variety of personalities
- Pilot travel programs with the primary goal of social connection and provide alumni with an organized way to experience a destination together
- Develop stronger partnerships with graduate and professional alumni associations to increase participation*
- Collaborate with Yale Athletics to create events when varsity teams travel outside of New Haven*
*Already started
The Yale alumni network is powerful and has an expansive global reach across just about any field. Enhancing your professional network after Yale is possible by providing or receiving mentorship, networking across industries or regions, and using Yale resources to build skills.
What's Next:
- Prioritize alumni-to-alumni professional development throughout the entire career lifecycle
- Establish community and partnership expectations on Cross Campus, improve onboarding, and create more sophisticated matching criteria
- Develop professional development curriculum around life transitions and milestones, such as going back to school at any age, career pivoting, becoming a working parent, caring for loved ones while working, and retirement
- Collect alumni feedback on topics that are important for discussion across industry, skills, and milestones to develop future programming
Information Links
Alumni Events
Events bring people together, help alumni grow their professional networks, and celebrate what makes the Yale community special. Because events can take many forms, and alumni have different expectations, the YAA will develop a system that distinguishes:
- Events managed by the YAA
- Events created in partnership with volunteers
- Events organized independently by volunteers or other community members
YAA as a Content Convener and Amplifier
The YAA is often the first place alumni turn to for timely updates and resources. To help all alumni connect more easily with the broader Yale community, we are making thoughtful, strategic improvements to how we bring people together and share and elevate content.
What's Next:
- Update and enhance our website as an easy-to-navigate hub for the alumni engagement journey
- Roll out email best practices and processes internally and to volunteers to avoid email fatigue*
- Explore and standardize non-email communications, such as digital Badge ID card, text messaging, mobile app, and message boards on Cross Campus*
- Survey readers and commence re-design of Yale Alumni Magazine*
*Already started
Investing in Virtual Events
YAA’s virtual programming took off in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to be a major part of the offerings to the alumni community. Data shows that alumni who engage online are more likely to connect in other ways, underscoring the importance of continuing to offer both virtual and in-person formats. This past year, we hosted more than 120 online-only events on a wide variety of topics, most of which were free and open to all alumni.
What's Next:
- Explore infrastructure needed to host high-quality hybrid events that provide seamless participation
- Record, caption, and transcribe as many events as possible to ensure access for those who are unable to attend live
- Create new life for recorded content through short-form clips, and support programming around recorded events, such as discussion groups in different time zones
- Pilot additional formats for online programs, with a focus on flexibility and interaction
Information Links
Rose Alumni House
The YAA aspires for alumni to feel welcome in New Haven and that there is a place for them when they visit. The Great Hall of Rose Alumni House will undergo a refresh, providing alumni with a space to rest, work, and recharge when visiting campus.
What's Next:
- Open from 9 am–4 pm Tuesday–Thursday starting in Fall 2026, the Great Hall will offer water, coffee, and tea along with comfortable seating and workstations. Alumni are encouraged to utilize the space for quiet conversations, charging their devices, or getting some email done.
- In addition, the communal spaces in Rose will be utilized more frequently for alumni on-campus classes and discussions. This strategic plan will also explore investment in livestreaming and recording to make them more accessible to alumni worldwide.
Information on how to book space and visit Rose Alumni House will be shared on our website.
Stewarding and Recognizing Volunteers
Volunteer leaders are the engine of the YAA. The partnerships between staff and alumni allow our programs to reach 190,000+ alumni worldwide. It is critical that we develop a comprehensive program for recognizing this work, highlighting significant achievements, and thanking our outgoing volunteers.
What's Next:
- Introduce Executive Director quarterly leadership discussion series, tackling challenging topics for volunteers across all YAA-affiliated groups*
- Publish YAA Annual Report that recognizes volunteer long-service, outgoing volunteers, and significant achievements by volunteer groups
Measuring and Assessing Success
In the final year of the For Humanity campaign, the YAA announced—and achieved—engagement goals to measure impact, hold ourselves accountable, and highlight success in priority areas. Going forward, that success will be amplified by establishing goals to understand the impact of this strategic plan and to determine where to pivot or reallocate resources. The goals will be made public. Examples of those goals may include:
- Increase participation in events overall or in specific areas
- Achieve high satisfaction of event participants
- Decrease in number of alumni who have not interacted with YAA in the last five years
- Further support alumni volunteers
- Calibrate staff workload to ensure the sustainability of the plan
Continuing Listening to Alumni
Alumni listening is the foundation of this strategic plan. To keep that line of communication open, YAA will institute short surveys to ensure new and ongoing programs to meet the needs of the alumni community. Please continue to share your feedback!
Annual Report
To promote greater transparency and accountability around the YAA’s strategic priorities, an annual report will be published to highlight progress. The report will also recognize the volunteers whose contributions have helped the YAA reach its goals.