What a wonderful year! I am so proud of what the Ford Scholar Alumni Association has accomplished this year and where we are heading for 2017!
This year we welcomed the Ford Opportunity and Ford ReStart Scholars into the Alumni Association, nearly doubling the number of our alumni. It was wonderful to have such diversity at the Ford Scholar Alumni Summer Get-Together in Lincoln City, and we look forward to many more events together!
Speaking of the Summer Alumni Get-Together, it is my absolute favorite event all year! Ford Alumni really know how to have a good time! I most enjoyed the opportunity to meet new alumni and hear their stories of where life has taken them since graduation.
I always walk away with career and life tips that I didn’t expect to gain, and most of all, I walk away with new friends. Ford Alumni have a special bond, and together we are accomplishing great things in our lives and communities.
I’m also excited for our new board members this year. With only a few months under their belt, they have already started to lift off the board committees and successfully end the year with our fall farm event. Thank you for jumping right in and bringing your new perspectives and ideas!
I also wanted to give a special thank you to our re-elected Vice President Marshall Curry, who has been such a support this year during my transition to president. He brings an infectious energy to the Alumni Association, and if you haven’t received a warm and friendly phone call from Marshall, then you will!
Lastly, Bonnie Williams, Alumni Engagement Manager from The Ford Family Foundation, has been one of the best additions to FSAA this year. Without her support and collaboration, we wouldn’t have been able to accomplish so many things with such ease and organization. Bonnie has helped our Alumni Association take that next step and expand our efforts so we can reach more alumni and provide more opportunities to connect and grow professionally.
With Bonnie’s help, we look forward to redesigning our communications in 2017, including launching a new FSAA website, e-newsletter, and full-color annual report.
We look forward to 2017 providing more opportunities to engage, support and reach out to each other as well as give back to our communities and the current Ford Scholarship recipients. Please take a look at the Year at a Glance section in this newsletter and see if you can spare some time to join your fellow Ford Alumni in various events that strive to do just that.
We also welcome and request your ideas and suggestions. Connect with us on our contact page.
I hope all of you have a fabulous fall and that I get to see many of you in the coming year.