This interactive workshop will look at two cases and then learn from you! We’ll look to our constituents and then ourselves as diverse professionals.

Firstly, we will look at how we build affinity work that supports our alumni constituencies. Events, mailings, Zooms book clubs. These wins demonstrate to our organizations that affinity based work, has powerful outcomes. For instance, in three years, the Black Alumni Reunion moved from 30 people to a 130 annual destination event!

While building affinity for our constituencies benefits the organization, we will next demonstrate how you can build an affinity group that supports you! Make the CASE for your NAIS institution to support affinities across institutions. Learn from the Diverse Professionals in Advancement, a collective made up of individuals not well represented in our field. Born from professional development conferences, grassroots meet-ups, and later supported by a one-time CASE grant, this group gathers diverse professionals across institutions within advancement for the goal of restoring our energy, expanding our network, and elevating the work that we do individually. Come hear how this model can be adapted across the country using your institution as leverage to build professional networks with colleagues.

Finally, we’ll close by hearing about you and your institutions DEI wins.