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Brite Ideas

Brite Ideas

By Brite Ideas | Sponsored by Hivebrite

Advancement professionals, do you want to make and demonstrate a greater impact?

Grab a coffee and join Alumni Relations expert, Sandra Rincon, and global alumni leaders, as they candidly discuss pressing issues, explore research findings from the field, consider what alumni relations can learn from other industries, and more.
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Currently playing episode

Episode 17: Engaging Alumni With Purpose

Brite IdeasOct 05, 2022

00:00
24:09
Episode 21: Levering Alumni for Science Diplomacy

Episode 21: Levering Alumni for Science Diplomacy

For this episode of Brite Ideas, host Sandra Rincon and Alexis Roig, Barcelona’s Chief Science and Tech Envoy and CEO of SciTech DiploHub, discuss how to leverage alumni for science diplomacy.

Listen in as Sandra and Alexis discuss:

  • Science diplomacy and the role it plays for cities
  • How to engage alumni in science diplomacy
  • How cities can retain talent
Mar 13, 202327:31
Episode 20: How to Thrive and Stay Relevant in a Changing World

Episode 20: How to Thrive and Stay Relevant in a Changing World

Listen in as host Sandra Rincon and Nena Grceva, Director of Alumni Affairs at Hertie School, explore how alumni advancement professionals can thrive and stay relevant in a changing world.

Key takeaways include:

  • The main competencies and skill sets advancement professionals need to thrive
  • Techniques and tactics to acquire new skills and knowledge to stay relevant
  • How  advancement professionals can build, grow and maintain their networks
Feb 08, 202332:06
Episode 19: Getting the Best out of Yourself and Others

Episode 19: Getting the Best out of Yourself and Others

Advancement professionals spend a lot of time building and nurturing relationships and serving others but can forget to nurture their inner selves.

For this episode of Brite Ideas, host Sandra Rincon spoke to Karen Cairney, CEO and Founder of Cairney and Company—a global company of innovative and creative fundraisers, strategists, communicators, researchers, trainers, and coaches.

Listen in as Sandra and Karen discuss:

  • How you can use emotional intelligence as a tool to empower yourself
  • How advancement professionals can use emotional intelligence to better interact with stakeholders
  • The importance of learning to “dance in the moment”
  • And more
Dec 21, 202227:24
Episode 18: Leveraging Lifelong Learning as a Tool to Engage Alumni

Episode 18: Leveraging Lifelong Learning as a Tool to Engage Alumni

International Education Week (IEW) takes place every year in November. It's an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide.

To mark the occasion, we spoke to Dr. Dilnoza Khasilova about the importance of lifelong learning. Dilnoza is a postdoctoral fellow at the Global Engagement Office of the University of Wyoming. She has developed a nonformal World Language and Culture Program with a unique structure and a diverse community in Wyoming.

Listen in as Dilnoza and host, Sandra Rincon, discuss:

  • The importance of developing intercultural competences
  • How lifelong learning can be used as a tool for community building
  • How lifelong learning can be used to engage alumni
  • And more
Oct 26, 202222:16
Episode 17: Engaging Alumni With Purpose

Episode 17: Engaging Alumni With Purpose

Listen in as host Sandra Rincon and Dr. Alfredo Estrada, Director of the Sustainability Center at the Universidad de Lima and Coordinator of SR Network of CLADEA, discuss why sustainable development goals are critical to universities and how alumni can support institutional SDG strategy.

Oct 05, 202224:09
Episode 16: Supporting Your Alumni’s Entrepreneurial Journeys

Episode 16: Supporting Your Alumni’s Entrepreneurial Journeys

For this episode of Brite Ideas, Host Sandra Rincon met with entrepreneur and business owner María Lucía Bermúdez to discuss how institutions can better support (and benefit from) entrepreneurs.

Listen in as Sandra and María Lucía discuss 

  • Why graduates should consider entrepreneurship
  • The entrepreneurial mindset
  • The challenges that alumni face while pursuing entrepreneurship
  • How institutions can better support entrepreneurs
  • The benefits universities can derive from fostering entrepreneurs in their student-alumni communities
Jul 26, 202239:53
Episode 15: The Power of Podcasting for Advancement
Jun 14, 202232:26
Episode 14: What Alumni Want

Episode 14: What Alumni Want

For this episode of Brite Ideas, we welcomed Tarynne Swarts. Tarynne is currently studying for her Ph.D. in International Education. She is an alum of Nelson Mandela University, Universidad de Granada, and KU Leuven.

Tarynne applies the philosophy of Ubuntu to everything she does. Ubuntu represents the idea that you exist through the communities you are a part of and that you must help where you can. The term is derived from the Zulu phrase, "Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu", which translates to “I am because you are”.

Listen in as Tarynne and host Sandra Rincon discuss:

  • what it means to be an alum,
  • what motivates alumni to become active members of their alumni community,
  • how to enhance the alumni experience (from an alumni perspective),
  • and more.
May 11, 202219:01
Episode 13: Employing Customer Knowledge Management for Alumni Relations Success

Episode 13: Employing Customer Knowledge Management for Alumni Relations Success

For this episode of Brite Ideas, we welcomed Dr. Anita Straujuma. Anita is the Executive Director at Riga Technical University Development Fund in Latvia. She completed her dissertation on knowledge management and alumni engagement.

Listen in as Anita and host Sandra Rincon discuss:

  • The importance of knowledge management and how to use it for measuring alumni relations success,
  • how to segment your alumni based on fields of engagement and levels of activity using the triple helix segmentation model,
  • how to improve alumni relations using customer knowledge management methods,
  • and more. 
Apr 12, 202223:34
Episode 12: Defining Alumni Engagement

Episode 12: Defining Alumni Engagement

For this episode of Brite Ideas, we welcomed Dr. Kevin Fleming, Co-founder and CEO of Prosper Non-Profit Advisors. Kevin is an educator, researcher and thought leader with over 20 years of expertise in alumni engagement and non-profit management.

Listen in as Kevin and host, Sandra Rincon, discuss:

  • Defining engagement,
  • key components of alumni engagement,
  • the difference between output and outcome metrics.
Mar 23, 202233:41
Episode 11: Harnessing Emotional Engagement for Successful Alumni Relations

Episode 11: Harnessing Emotional Engagement for Successful Alumni Relations

For this episode of Brite Ideas, we welcomed Richard Gillingwater, a Brand and Creative Communication Consultant at Emotional Branding Ltd.

Listen in as Richard and host, Sandra Rincon, discuss:

  • The definition of emotional engagement,
  • storytelling to encourage emotions that change behavior,
  • mapping a brand’s power of storytelling through archetypes,
  • and more.
Feb 08, 202224:12
Episode 10: Why Alumni Ambassador Programs Are Essential for the Success of Alumni Networks

Episode 10: Why Alumni Ambassador Programs Are Essential for the Success of Alumni Networks

For our first episode of 2022, we invited Karen de Man, Alumni Relations Officer at Erasmus University Rotterdam and Johannes Epping, Alumni Relations Project Manager at University of Groningen, to share insights and best practices from their alumni ambassador programs.

Listen as Karen, Johannes, and host, Sandra Rincon, discuss:

  • Why ambassador programs are essential to growth and success,
  • how to identify and cultivate ambassadors,
  • how to incentivize ambassadors,
  • how to empower and train ambassadors,
  • and how to evaluate the impact of ambassador programs.
Jan 19, 202234:05
Episode 9: How to Provide Your Graduates Lifelong Value

Episode 9: How to Provide Your Graduates Lifelong Value

For the final episode of the year, we welcomed back Dr Maria Gallo, Founder of KITE – Keep in Touch Education and author of The Alumni Way, to discuss how to provide lifelong value to graduates.

Listen in as Maria and host Sandra Rincon discuss:

  • How institutions can provide a better experience for their alumni,
  • how institutions can provide lifelong value,
  • how to measure lifelong value,
  • the importance of an alumni from day one strategy,
  • and more.
Dec 06, 202128:53
Episode 8: International Chapters and Their Governance

Episode 8: International Chapters and Their Governance

For this episode of Brite Ideas, we welcomed Martine Torfs, the Head of the Alumni Office at KU Leuven.

Listen in as Martine and host Sandra Rincon discuss:

  • Criteria for deciding if and when to create a chapter,
  • why is it essential to establish alumni chapters abroad,
  • how to identify and empower chapter leaders,
  • how to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing among different chapters,
  • and more.
Nov 24, 202133:14
Episode 7: What Engagement Metrics Matter and Why

Episode 7: What Engagement Metrics Matter and Why

For this episode, we welcomed Nik Miller, Partner at More Partnership—a leading consultancy firm that supports not-for-profit organizations, including universities, hospitals, theatres, museums, and the wider charity sector.

Grab a coffee (or beverage of your choice) and listen in as Nik and host, Sandra Rincon, discuss:

  • Why metrics are crucial for advancement professionals,
  • universally accepted frameworks for measuring impact,
  • metrics that all institutions should be tracking,
  • why internal sharing of information is critical,
  • predictive modelling,
  • and more!
Nov 02, 202130:19
Episode 6: What Volunteers Want

Episode 6: What Volunteers Want

For this episode, we welcomed Amber Cooper Jorez and Joan Steiger, Chapter Leaders for the University of Paris, to share their insights on what volunteers want.

Listen as Amber, Joan, and host, Sandra Rincón, discuss:

  • The importance of volunteering, 
  • what motivates alumni to become volunteers, 
  • how institutions can make volunteers feel valued, 
  • how to cultivate great experiences for volunteers, 
  • and more.
Sep 21, 202138:29
Episode 5: How to Create a Strategy for Your Mentoring Program

Episode 5: How to Create a Strategy for Your Mentoring Program

In this episode, Juan Maldonado, Corporate and Alumni Relations Manager at Rotterdam School of Management, joined us to share how he put together his award-winning mentoring program.

Listen as Juan and host, Sandra Rincón, discuss:

  • The importance of end-user feedback and how to get it,
  • how to consistently deliver value to each stakeholder,
  • how to define (and measure) a mentoring program’s success,
  • and more.
Aug 10, 202127:24
Episode 4: Engaging International Alumni as Strategic Partners

Episode 4: Engaging International Alumni as Strategic Partners

We turned the tables for this episode and Sandra Rincón, who usually hosts the podcast, was on the receiving end of the questions from Daniel Whitmoyer-Bush, Strategic Accounts Executive at Hivebrite.

During this episode, Daniel and Sandra discuss:

  • The impact of globalization on higher education
  • The benefits international alumni bring to an institution
  • How international alumni benefit local economies
  • How to develop international alumni networks
  • And more
Jul 13, 202123:08
Episode 3: Why Mentoring Matters

Episode 3: Why Mentoring Matters

For this month’s episode, we invited Clare Brownlie, Development Director at Oldham Hulme Grammar School to share her insights into how and why universities need to scale their mentoring programs.

Claire and host, Sandra Rincón, discuss:

  • Why mentoring programs are more critical now than ever,
  • how mentoring programs benefit everyone involved,
  • why universities need to do more,
  • how to scale a mentoring program,
  • and how to nurture mentors and mentees.
Jun 02, 202131:12
Episode 2: Why Strategy Matters

Episode 2: Why Strategy Matters

For the second episode of Brite Ideas, we invited Andy Shaindlin, Vice President for Alumni Relations at Brown University, to discuss the importance of strategy.

Strategy has always been important to alumni relations programs, but it has now become indispensable to reevaluate current strategies and perhaps even reimagine new ones.

Listen as Andy and host, Sandra Rincón, discuss:

  • The definition of strategy,
  • why strategy matters,
  • the best way to develop a strategy roadmap,
  • how to build a "case for support" for alumni relations strategy and engage internal stakeholders in the process,
  • and more.
Mar 30, 202128:24
Episode 1: Lockdown and Alumni Relations

Episode 1: Lockdown and Alumni Relations

For this first episode, we invited Dr. Maria Gallo, Founder and Principal of KITE – Keep in Touch Education, a social enterprise that focuses on the transformative potential of alumni connection through research and educational initiatives, to discuss her recent study on the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on alumni relations.

Listen to Maria and host, Sandra Rincón, discuss the results of the study, what they mean for the future of alumni relations, and the importance of self-care during these unprecedented times.

Mar 30, 202134:09