Growth of ICA Alumni
by Robyn Logan
ICA has been in a rapid growth phase for the last few years. (65% average per annum!) And with the company’s growth comes a growing Alumni.
Most educational institutions run an Alumni program of some kind or another. They generally consist of professional development programs, guest speakers and networking events. Sometimes they are free and sometimes you have to pay to belong to the Alumni.
At ICA we like to think we do things differently - and the organization of our Alumni is no exception.
Starting 2 weeks ago we began a global review of our Alumni goals and processes and came up with a new and exciting strategy. This strategy is characterized by two core principles:
1. To view our graduates as Strategic Partners
This means that we see or graduates not as “ex-students” but as current and equal partners. At ICA we embark on a range of initiative with strategic partners outside the school. We enjoy joint ventures and actively seek them out. Now we will be adding graduates to our list of potential joint venture partners and actively seeking to work together on projects of mutual interest and benefit.
2. To view our graduates as co-creators of our business and our brand
The traditional way for educational institutions to work with Alumni is to develop an Alumni program or service and then deliver it to graduates, sometimes for a fee, sometimes not. At ICA we will work WITH our graduates from the very beginning to identify areas for development. This might seem trivial – but actually it is quite profound. The difference between developing something “for” someone as opposed to “with” someone is huge.
We have also started opening up our business to Alumni and inviting them as co-creators of our business. We have set up a blog that lists all current projects running at ICA and we have given all Alumni “author” status on the blog. This means that not only can they comment, but they can write posts and generate agenda items themselves.
The Review Process
The review process has begun with a series of rolling meetings. We are calling them Strategy + Action meetings and they are being held across a range of dates and times to make sure we get maximum participation from our international community. The results of these meetings so far has been amazing. We are finding that our Alumni have a very strong voice, and a perspective that is surprisingly united given the diverse range of countries and cultures they represent.
So look out for the ICA Alumni, we have plans in the pipeline to make our graduates more available to our newsletter readers in coming weeks.