Written by Ken Inadomi, Founder and President of YANA
The Yale Alumni Nonprofit Alliance (YANA) launched in 2011, inspired by the vision to build an open community of like-minded, mission driven alumni dedicated to working together, giving back, and changing lives. There are over 170,000 Yale alumni globally and we estimate that at least 2 out of 3 are engaged in social impact causes. In starting YANA, we recognized the huge opportunity to create a support system for change makers, inviting them to connect for advice, encouragement, referrals, and funding. We reach our audience through digital media and convene them through in-person programming and virtual events, and in the process, we’ve created a high impact community of over 8,000 members committed to advancing positive social change.
In 2015, Yale President Peter Salovey’s baccalaureate address to the senior class shared these words: “Your purpose in life as a graduate of Yale is simply this: To improve the world. In the Jewish tradition this is called Tikkun Olam, literally to repair the world.” Indeed, YANA’s mission is to organize and leverage Yale’s social purpose community to advance the greater good.
Our value proposition cuts across generational lines:
- For Yale students and young alums starting their careers, we support lives of impact through introductions, internships, fellowships, and mentoring — serving as a launching pad (and safety net) for Gen Z and Millennials to explore careers in social impact.
- For mid-stage alums, typically Gen X, who are at or near the height of their social purpose careers as leaders of nonprofits, YANA helps broaden their perspectives, amplify their voices, and sharpen their messaging, while connecting them to best practices, as well as human and financial resources.
- For later-stage alums, particularly Boomers who may be retired or semi-retired, YANA provides a trusted gateway to giving back as mentors, advisors, pro bono consultants, and nonprofit board members.
YANA’s steady expansion is being fueled by a perfect storm of three intersecting trends: the explosive rise of social entrepreneurship to address social, economic, and environmental challenges; the growing intolerance for racial inequity coupled with an inexorable push to democratize opportunity; and an unprecedented surge in volunteer engagement.
The entire Yale community learned about the value of volunteerism through the widely acclaimed ‘Happiness’ course taught by Psychology Professor Laurie Santos. Professor Santos’ research confirmed that the enduring path to happiness is not more money, materiality, or status, but through engaging in meaningful ways to serve others. On any given day YANA is helping early-stage social impact organizations source funding, build boards, become 501(c)3, and more. We will continue to serve as an incubator and an accelerator for promising leaders and their organizations seeking to launch and scale.
It’s been more than ten years since inception, but we still operate YANA with the urgency of a startup. Each day we challenge ourselves to develop new ways to empower lives of impact by encouraging our members to use the YANA community to envision and actualize their social impact aspirations. Regional YANA chapters have launched in Denver, Houston, New England, New York, the Pacific Northwest, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Washington DC. Ongoing opportunities exist throughout the YANA landscape to form new chapters, organize events, moderate panels, chair committees, raise funding, and serve on boards. We embrace our mistakes and seek ways to ‘fail fast” in pursuing our goals.
Of course, nothing is possible without great people. We believe that excellent and sustained alumni work requires a strong, diverse leadership team. We also believe in the Jim Collins model of getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and everyone in their proper seats playing to their strengths. We never overlook an opportunity to develop young leaders, in fact much of YANA’s best work comes from our youngest members, including Liana Epstein ’14, Communications Director; Dasia Moore ’18, YANA’s youngest-ever board member; and Cornelius Saunders ’14, Chair of Data Metrics. The award for Volunteerism At Its Best goes to Rachel Litman ’91, who stepped up in 2019 to become YANA’s inaugural executive director. YANA’s growth in membership, funding, and impact is largely due to Rachel’s remarkable vision and leadership.
We feel that the highest purpose of an alumni organization is to convey the important values from one generation to the next. YANA’s goal is to embody this theme through all our messaging, programming, and events, but our aspirations go further. Imagine if we could establish a curated pipeline of meaningful opportunities to give back, starting with Yale first-years and continuing through retirement — a life full of engagement and service, tailored to the specific needs, interests, and strengths of the individual. Further imagine if we could scale our impact by introducing the YANA model beyond Yale to alumni from colleges and universities across the nation. That’s our vision and we’re determined to get there.
YANA website: https://www.yalenonprofitalliance.org/