Alumni Association Board Meeting Minutes 08/23/25

Pomona College Alumni Association Board Meeting Minutes

August 23, 2025 – 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Seaver House

Committee Chair & Officers: Andrea Venezia '91, Monika Moore '03, Robi Ganguly '00 (president elect)

Board Members: Eliza Bennitt ’98, Robert Chew ’14, Lauren Clarke ’83 P’18, Migel Delgado ’20, Renee Dupont ’80 P’09, Anne Elsberry ’91 P’14, Fred Feller ’82, Stuart Friedel ’08, Rebecca Golden ’10, Jackie Huffman '83, Tony King '97, Toran Langford ’21, Te'auna Patterson ’18, Jesse Stoneman ’12, Jim Sutton ’84 P'22 , Jacob Wilson ’15, James Zhang ’95, Emily Zheng ’19 – Absent, Grace Zheng ’26 

Staff and Faculty Representatives: Tray Hammond ’22, Pritina Irvin – Absent, Mariam Khwajazada, Kerry Martin, Karla Reid – Absent, Steve Bickham (Faculty) - Absent 

Quorum: The quorum for a meeting of the Board shall be a majority of the voting members. Therefore, this meeting had the necessary number of voting members (18) in attendance for a quorum.

Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 10:00 am by President Andrea Venezia ’91 without dissent. 

Prior Meeting Minutes from 6.21.25 were distributed to the Board for review but will be ratified at the next (October) meeting.

FY26 Board Member Introductions: Each board member introduced themselves with name, class year, current city, and year on the Board. The AFE team provided additional biographical details for each board member in the chat.

PCAAB President’s Remarks: In summary, Andrea Venezia ‘91 shared her vision and philosophy for the Board, emphasizing collaboration, values, and inclusive engagement.

Strategic Alignment Initiative Updates:
Andrea Venezia ’91 introduced the Board’s strategic alignment work with consultants Huron/GG&A, aiming to clarify roles, responsibilities, and measures of success. Monika Moore ’03 shared that Huron/GG&A are experienced higher-ed consultants, with co-lead Andy Shanlin bringing decades of alumni relations expertise and a strong alignment with Pomona’s engagement philosophy.

• Confidential interviews with alumni and stakeholders are underway. 
• Landscape analysis and research of peer/aspirational boards is being collected to inform benchmarking. 
• Committee work for FY26 will focus on integrating these insights into Board goals; drafting a guiding framework for Board roles, responsibilities, and committee structures, with future opportunities to review, refine, and align.
• 3-hour workshop in October to engage the Board in structured discussion.

Discussion Highlights:

Andrea Venezia highlighted the value of developing a framework that is both practical and impactful, while Monika Moore emphasized the strong expertise of Huron/GG&A consultants and their close alignment with Pomona’s engagement philosophy. The board expressed enthusiasm for a consensusdriven process that will position meetings as dynamic spaces for collaboration and problem-solving. Andrea and incoming president Robi Ganguly ’00 underscored their ongoing coordination, ensuring continuity and a smooth transition that will carry this momentum forward into FY26.

Questions / Action Items:

1. Review and provide input on strategic alignment themes.
2. Clarify scope and application of the proposed framework, including measures of success and Advancement integration
3. Confirm follow-up session(s) with consultants after the October workshop.
4. Board members to actively participate, surfacing challenges and solutions

Alumni and Family Engagement Updates: Monika Moore presented the FY26 Strategic Roadmap, outlining five guiding goals for Alumni and Family Engagement:

1. Achieve Steady Growth in the Percentage of Engaged Alumni – foster connections through events, volunteer opportunities, and digital platforms. 
2. Advance a Culture of Engagement on Pomona’s Campus – integrate faculty voices and priorities into alumni programming. 
3. Engage the Full Range of Alumni in Rewarding Volunteer Roles – revitalize the platform to increase membership and create measurable two-way engagement. 
4. Be a Data-Informed Team – align alumni participation and philanthropy with institutional priorities. 
5. Foster the Environment that will achieve Campaign Success – ensure strong infrastructure, documentation, and continuity of policies and practices to sustain long-term success.

Discussion Highlights:

Board members discussed the importance of real-time engagement metrics, using data to inform decisions and track progress. There was consensus on the need to more intentionally involve faculty leadership in alumni initiatives, ensuring continuity in representation. The Board also expressed enthusiasm about revitalizing Sagehen Connect as a key driver of digital engagement and participation.

Action Items:

1. Board to review goals and identify areas for committee alignment. 

2. Monika to share strategic roadmap slides with the Board.

Alumni Board Project Updates / Next Steps:

Cookbook Project: Jim Sutton and Eliza Bennitt provided updates; The project builds on a 1987 alumni cookbook and aims to re-engage alumni by inviting recipe submissions paired with short personal notes.

• Members expressed excitement about connecting this project with alumni history and culture. 
• A small committee (Jim, Eliza, and Warren) is leading the effort.
• The goal is to self-publish a selection of about 100 recipes, chosen by alumni with food/beverage expertise.
•  Advancement Communications (Crystal Gammon’s team) is providing support. • An online form submission will be set up for community contributions.
•  Next steps include recruiting additional volunteers and scheduling a committee meeting within two weeks.

Sagehen Connect Revitalization:

• Monika outlined upcoming enhancements and strategies to expand membership. 
• The goal is to significantly increase new members this fiscal year and better integrate Sagehen Connect into alumni communications.

Discussion Highlights:

Board members agreed these projects are a good way to involve alumni meaningfully while balancing staff workload. Jesse Stoneman asked clarifying questions about the scope of the Sagehen Connect project — whether improvements would be limited to usability or also include broader marketing and campaign integration.

Action Items: 

1. Cookbook sub-team to finalize project timeline. 

2. AFE to share Sagehen Connect engagement targets for Board input.

New Business & Action Items:

Monika Moore shared that Sagehen Connect remains an important opportunity for growth, noting that while it continues as an opt-in directory due to privacy rules, the team is focused on improving usability and increasing awareness of its value. She also provided a brief review of upcoming items and confirmed that the Board should note:

• Q1 Regional and Virtual Events (participation and outreach support needed).
• PCAAB Retreat Travel Arrangements (confirmations to be collected).
• Alumni Awards & Nominations (call for submissions).

Monika then opened the floor for any additional new business to be added to future agendas; no additional items were raised.

1. Action Items:
   Cookbook committee to finalize timeline, recruit volunteers, and circulate submission instructions. 
2. AFE staff to share clearer guidance on SagehenConnect’s next steps and invite Board participation. 
3. Executive Committee to meet in September to coordinate leadership roles for both projects.

Campus Partner FY26 Insights and Priorities: 

Updates from campus partners: 

Admissions: Alumni Admissions Volunteers (AAV) will be phased out. Alumni interviews are not returning due to compliance and cost concerns. Monika noted the importance of clarifying California’s legal requirements and benchmarking what peer institutions are doing.

Communications: FY26 priorities include strengthening content and infrastructure for Sagehen Connect, building storytelling campaigns in collaboration with Advancement Comms and the new VP for Communications, and exploring traffic drivers such as an “Ask a Sagehen” initiative. 

Development: Alumni Board participation is at 100%. A final-week push is underway to encourage regional leaders and board members to do outreach and boost participation rates. Gifts to endowed scholarships count toward participation but not unrestricted annual totals.

Discussion Highlights:

• Board members discussed the need for more clarity on faculty representation on the Alumni Board, ensuring continuity and better integration with campus leadership.
• Members expressed support for experimenting with digital engagement pilots (like “Ask a Sagehen”) and emphasized the importance of coordinated storytelling across platforms. 
• Advancement partners reinforced the urgency of the participation rate goal, underscoring that broad engagement is more critical than gift size

Action Items: 

1. Andrea to follow up with faculty leadership regarding rep appointment processes.
2. Monika to consult with Admissions on peer practices related to alumni interviews.
3. Crystal Gammon (Advancement Comms) to coordinate with Development on year-end storytelling push. 
4. Alumni Board members to continue outreach during final participation campaign push. 

1:00 p.m. Adjournment Andrea Venezia ’91 motioned to adjourn the meeting at 1:00pm; Motion to adjourn moved by Jim Sutton ’84, seconded by Stuart Friedel ’08, and approved.

Next meeting: Sunday, October 12 – on campus at 9:00 am 

Key Dates: 2025 – 26 

8/23/25 Alumni Board Meeting #1 
10/11/25 Oct. Alumni Board Retreat: New Faculty Dinner (Faculty Award) 
10/12/25 Alumni Board Meeting #2: Sunday* (on campus) 
01/24/26 Alumni Board Meeting #3 
03/21/26 Alumni Board Meeting #4 
05/03/25 Alumni Board Meeting #5: Sunday* (on campus) 
06/20/26 Alumni Board Meeting #6