Leadership Academy: Alumni Association

Greenlining Academy Alumni Association (GAAA)

MISSION STATEMENT

The Greenlining Institute is dedicated to empowering communities of color and other disadvantaged groups through multi-ethnic leadership development.  Continuing a relationship between alumni and the Greenlining Institute is imperative to the long-term vitality of the Greenlining Institute and its vision.  The GAAA strives to enhance the Academy alumni network and support the development and success of Academy programs, including but not limited to the Fellowship, Summer Associate and Work-Study programs.

Alumni Board Members

Erik Paulino ‘96, Treasurer

Lindsay Imai ‘03, Chair

Mark Rutledge ‘07

Monica Gomez, ‘03

Nonya Collier ‘06

Susan Cheng, ‘02

Trina Villanueva ‘98, Former Chair

PROGRAMS

The Alumni Board was formed in May 2001 and since then the board has launched the following initiatives to support the leadership development of GAAA members:

Mentorship Program

Launched in January 2007, the GAAA mentorship program originally paired Greenlining Fellows with alumni.  The primary purpose is to support the Fellows' success in the fellowship and their development of post-fellowship goals.  The mentorship program also provides a great opportunity for alumni to remain involved in the Academy as it continues to grow and graduate more participants.  However, after two years of mixed results, the Alumni Board is considering re-structuring the program to benefit work study interns or possibly Casa students.  More to come on this, later in 2009!

Recruitment for the Academy

By volunteering to help recruit candidates for the Academy, alumni have helped broaden the diversity and demographic reach of the Academy. Alumni are encouraged to promote the Greenlining Academy within their respective college and graduate alumni groups as well as their professional and personal networks.

Fundraising

When alumni give financially to Greenlining, they demonstrate that those who best know Greenlining, value its continued work. Such support is critical to Greenlining’s ability to fundraise from foundations and corporations. As part of its role in strengthening the Greenlining Academy, the GAAA regularly asks alumni to support the Academy and its programs. Our goal is to increase the number of alums that actively participate in the growth of the Academy, regardless of the amount donated. (If you haven’t yet given this year, please donate today by clicking on the “Support” tab above.)

Networking Amongst Alumni

Currently, the GAAA has kept alumni connected via the email list serve (greenliningalumni(at)yahoogroups.com as well as an in-house spreadsheet that we attempt to update manually every year. While these have helped keep us decently connected, we recognize that alumni could really benefit from a networking medium that allows them to search and sort alumni by academic degree, career interest, geography etc. We’ve struggled with how to do this is the most cost effective manner. At our April 2009 Alumni Meeting, there was consensus amongst alumni who attended that we should use the free professional networking site, Linked-In, to connect alumni. Over the next year we will explore how to make this happen. In the meantime, if you’re looking for a particular contact or would like to join the email list serve, please contact Trina Villanueva (email below).

Professional Development Scholarship Fund

The Scholarship fund was launched in February 2008. The Scholarship fund provides small grants to alumni to enable them to attend trainings, conferences or other events that continue their professional development. Qualifying trainings focus on management, technical and/or leadership skills that contribute meaningfully to the applicant’s professional growth.

The grants are limited to $300 and can be used for training costs and travel costs. For more information and to apply, please go to the application here."

Annual Economic Summit

Every year, GAAA hosts two events for alumni at Greenlining's Annual Economic Summit: a happy-hour mixer and the GAAA Annual Meeting.  These are the most well attended of all of GAAA's events and are an opportunity to network, learn the latest about the Greenlining Academy and give feedback to the GAAA. 

GAAA assists alumni with financial assistance to help cover travel, hotel and registration costs to attend the Summit.  To apply for financial assistance for the upcoming Annual Economic Summit, please fill out the Professional Development Scholarship Fund application (above).  Costs of up to $300 will be covered for travel to the conference.  The Greenlining Institute waives registration costs and provides hotel rooms for alumni to share. 

For more information on any of these programs and activities, please contact members of the Alumni Board:

Lindsay Imai - lindsay_imai@yahoo.com

Nonya Collier -- nonieco@yahoo.com

Trina Villanueva - trina_villanueva@hotmail.com