Global Alumni Networks and Social Class: Epistemic Communities and the ‘Thought Collective’ Towards Voluntary Impact on Local Civil Society

Abstract: National governments and agencies worldwide have developed global alumni networks to stay connected with former international students, including scholarship recipients from the global South.  This article presents research across six countries (Czechia, Germany, Sweden, the UK, Denmark, and Ireland) on global alumni networks as a development education practice that enables an intersection between local community impact and social class.  The case studies are part of funded research on global alumni networks.  This article highlights models of global alumni networks, emerging as a social class ‘thought collective’ or epistemic community.  These qualities create a new definition of social class, especially for the alumni who are scholarship or fellowship returnees to global South communities. 

There remains a dearth of research on global alumni networks.  Rincón and Rutkowski (2015) suggest that global alumni networks are instruments of public diplomacy, addressing collective actions for equality, social justice, and environmental action.  This article argues that alongside career development as the purpose for pursuing their studies in the first place, alumni are motivated to lead social change in their communities.  Skovsted Hansen (2015) presents global alumni networks as epistemic communities, drawing on the Haas (1992) definition of international relations: a diverse group with knowledge-based expertise and shared beliefs.  For global alumni networks the ‘thought collective’ serves as a heuristic device to draw on network characteristics.  National agencies steering the global alumni networks use incentives, such as activity grants or awards, to steer local voluntary alumni action focused on global awareness, and civil society activism.  Establishing global alumni networks focuses on the alumni intersection between local community impact with social class and mobility.  The research question considered in this article is: what influences the emerging models of global alumni networks towards impact on local civil society and a redefinition of social class?

Key words: Alumni; Global Alumni Networks; International Higher Education; Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); Public Diplomacy.

Introduction 

Over the last decade, national governments and government-supported agencies worldwide have developed global alumni networks to stay connected with former international students.  The article presents case study research on global alumni networks across six countries (Czechia, Germany, Sweden, the UK, Denmark, and Ireland), and the role of alumni in leading local community impact related to the United Nations Global Goals to 2030 (UN General Assembly, 2015), also called the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and related public diplomacy efforts.  The research question considered in this article is: what influences the emerging models of global alumni networks towards impact on local civil society and a redefinition of social class?  A summary of these six global alumni network case studies is presented in Table A:

Table A: Global Alumni Network Case Studies

The case studies were constructed as part of funded research on global alumni networks.  Through interviews and documentary analysis, the case studies highlight the features from each country working with global alumni.  Showcasing the local and global impact of international alumni is a common aim for establishing global alumni networks aligned to national internationalisation strategies.  However, the approach to alumni voluntary action is diverse.   This article highlights the extent to which public diplomacy, epistemic communities or ‘thought collective’ characteristics emerge within these models of global alumni networks.  International alumni are highlighted as a collective network, as defined by the national agency developing the global alumni programme.

Traditional alumni networks, coordinated by higher education institutions, largely work from a nostalgia and philanthropic model, focused on career networking, social events, and philanthropic activities (Gallo, 2021).  However, the global alumni network case studies demonstrate collective alumni voluntary action and an appetite for social impact.  This aligns with Ellison’s (2015) concept of citizen alum, looking beyond alumni as ‘donors’ to ‘doers’, thus creating space for meaningful alumni voluntary action.  Case studies show global alumni deeply engaged in their communities to impact on the SDG agenda.  At the same time, global alumni networks recognise, especially more recently, that to mobilise alumni to engage in this public diplomacy and internationalisation agenda, there needs to be a strong individual alumni incentive, such as supporting their career or leadership development.  

There remains a dearth of research on global alumni networks.  Rincón and Rutkowski (2015) suggest that global alumni networks are instruments of public diplomacy, promoting equality, social justice and environmental action aligned to the SDGs.  Why would alumni get involved in global alumni network activity?  This article argues that alongside career development, alumni are also motivated to lead SDG-based awareness in their communities upon their return to their country of origin.  Skovsted Hansen (2015) presents global alumni networks as epistemic communities, drawing on the Haas (1992) definition of international relations: a diverse group with knowledge-based expertise and shared beliefs.  ‘Thought collective’ (Fleck, 1979) is a community with exchanging ideas and intellectual interactions at its core.  For global alumni networks the ‘thought collective’ serves as a heuristic device to draw on network characteristics.  Global alumni networks use incentives, such as activity grants, marketing support, or awards, to steer the direction of local voluntary alumni activity addressing themes of sustainability, global awareness, and civil society activism. 

What are Global Alumni Networks?  The research context

Nationally-led, international alumni networks (referred to throughout as global alumni networks) are emerging as a global trend, with recent growth in Europe, established as an initiative of government or in partnership with government-funded agencies.  The research highlighted in this article was completed in two parts: first, investigating these networks in 2019 and then again in 2024.  The five-year span between these research periods shows the maturation of the existing global alumni networks.  In addition, other countries including Austria, Estonia, Poland, Spain, United Arab Emirates and Canada are considering the implementation of such networks.  The main purpose of global alumni networks is for national agencies or governments to stay connected with former international students, including scholarship or fellowship recipients from the global South.  Existing global alumni networks included in this research are based in: Czechia, Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom (UK), Denmark, and Ireland.  Additional networks also exist in Hungary, France, and Canada.  The 2019 research also highlighted the global alumni networks in The Netherlands and Australia, which are no longer active as of December 2024.

Initially, the 2019 research was designed to draw on the learning from national models and key leaders to inform the potential for a global alumni network for Ireland.  Through Ireland’s diaspora strategies, including the most recent Global Ireland: Ireland’s Diaspora Strategy 2020-2025 (DFA, 2020), global alumni are part of Ireland’s affinity diaspora.  This qualitative research study was conducted in two parts.  First, research was undertaken over a six-month period in 2019.  Alongside extensive desk research, the primary data collection included 42 interviews and observer status at the gathering of European global alumni networks in The Netherlands in May 2019.  The second part of the research was conducted over a four-month period in 2024, including documentary analysis and 18 interviews with agencies supporting global alumni networks, experts working in the field of alumni relations with experience working or consulting with these networks.

The initial research study identified four key themes that form the impetus for establishing the networks and ongoing public sector investment namely:

• Building a reputation for internationalisation and education;

• Supporting talent for economic development;

• Sharing knowledge for research and innovation opportunities;

• Fostering public diplomacy for values, culture, and sustainable development (Gallo, 2019: 31).

It can be argued that all four themes are national priorities for governments, described in the research as ‘state-focus’.  Equally, these themes offer an alumni-focused benefit to participation in a global alumni network, including for career advancement (linked to the talent for economic development theme).  While this article may focus on the public diplomacy theme, the research suggests that the state benefit of a global alumni network is to increase the country’s reputation and brand within international prospective students and broader global audience, which also addresses the other key themes.  Alumni networks that adopt an ambassador or public diplomacy role embrace Ellison’s (2015) ‘doer’ ideal, with international students-turned alumni engaged in volunteering - as mentors, supporting student recruitment efforts, organisers of sustainability focused events - is well documented (Rincón and Dobson, 2021).  Therefore, global alumni networks enable higher education to have a social class mobility role, shifting alumni from individuals only seeking their own professional development to volunteers that act as civic actors, leaders and advocates for the country of study’s values, including addressing SDG targets.

To fully understand the nature of global alumni networks, this research offers a typology, to understand the scope and the breadth to the six countries at the centre of this study: Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, and the UK.  The research presents an overall matrix (Gallo, 2019) for the initial placement of global alumni networks.  Figure 1 presents the matrix, which draws on research on alumni-institutional relationships as a cycle starting with affiliation, affinity, and engagement, ending with support (Gallo, 2012). 

Figure 1: (Gallo, 2019: 23)

On the X-axis is the network scope: on one side is affiliation, whereby the government decides on a narrow alumni definition for the network, such as a group of international alumni who received a government-supported scholarship or fellowship.  On the other end of the spectrum is affinity, where the global alumni network is open to any alumni - from international alumni returned to their country of origin, who reside in a third country along with domestic alumni who live abroad.  The Y-axis represents the network focus that is the purpose for the network.  On the top of the axis is engagement, defined as the direct professional or personal benefit for alumni.  On the bottom of this spectrum is support, with the purpose of the global alumni network focused on national priorities or policies, which may include any or all of the four themes highlighted above.

This typology is significant to this article because it allows a mapping of these global alumni networks and an understanding of the breadth of difference in their ethos and composition, before focusing on public diplomacy, social class, and activism.  The caveat shown in the research argues that the four quadrants are not definitive: ‘The model for a global alumni network is not entirely a polarised one … Many networks may sway across multiple points on the scale’ (Gallo, 2019: 23).  The bottom half of the matrix focuses on national priority focused networks, with the left side as a select group and the right a more universal alumni group.  The two top quadrants of the matrix (Figure 1) focus on alumni that can join the network: the top left-hand quadrant is for a select group of alumni, such as scholarship winners, whereas the top right side is for networks open to any alumni who studied in the country to join and participate in the network.

Global alumni network case studies 

This article considers case studies from six countries: Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, and the UK.  These case studies were selected to illustrate their relevance to social class mobility, especially on their role in creating groups of alumni civic actors that work towards collective action.  Figure 2 is a reconceptualised visual representation for this article, offering the initial mapping of these six global alumni networks based on their alumni scope and purpose. 

Those countries at the bottom of the matrix in Figure 2, namely Sweden, Denmark, and Germany, offer a prioritised reference to the SDGs and public diplomacy as part of their work.  Czechia, also at the bottom of the matrix, established Czechia Alumni with a role to mediate international cooperation and ‘…support the internationalisation of Czech higher education institution and to promote the good image of Czechia abroad’ (DZS, 2024).  Czechia is also open to all international alumni of Czech higher education, offering social events (called meet-ups) for international alumni all over the world, often in partnership with a local embassy.  The events also encourage current and prospective students to attend these events, showcasing Czechia as an excellent place to study, research and live.

The AlumniPortal Deutschland for Germany alumni, established in 2008, is the oldest global alumni network.  An entirely online and virtual network of over 120,000 alumni, it is open to alumni who studied or researched in German higher education.  While the AlumniPortal offers career support with webinars and blog posts, the primary purpose of the work is to support measures linked to German public diplomacy.  Engaging alumni in SDG-related collaborative online workshops and activities, such as the community challenge, invites alumni to submit their innovative social entrepreneurship ideas on a given theme.  In 2022, the community challenge theme was sustainable agriculture and environmentally friendly food systems, promoted in an article on the AlumniPortal using icons from SDG 2 focused on eliminating hunger and offered updates on the alumni who received support to realise their projects (Pfänder, 2023).  Sweden and Denmark’s response to global alumni networks are narrow in scope, focusing on those that received scholarships or fellowships from the global South to study at postgraduate level in the respective countries.  The focus of the alumni volunteer-led chapters in countries of origin is to encourage these groups to advance work that addresses the SDGs and embodies the country’s values.

While the UK organises alumni networks for prestigious scholarships, such as the Chevening Awards alumni, the focus of this study is the British Council supported Alumni UK programme, open to former UK international students.  The focus of this entirely online network is alumni career support and skills development through virtual professional development events, such as the annual Alumni UK Live festival as ‘…an unmissable opportunity to upskill and stay competitive in today’s job market’ (Alumni UK a, 2024).  As of December 2024, Ireland supports smaller global alumni efforts, including the Kader Asmal Alumni (KAA) highlighted here as part of this study.  The KAA is a network of South African alumni who studied in an Irish higher education institution (HEI) on a postgraduate scholarship supported by the Irish government, as part of the Ireland Fellows Programme (Gallo, 2019).  As a volunteer-led alumni network, the KAA focuses on career development and networking between members.

Epistemic communities and thought collective – a framework to view the social class positioning of global alumni networks

This article employs the concept of epistemic communities as a heuristic device to explore and interrogate the potential and the existing operations of alumni volunteering efforts in global alumni networks.  A concept for international relations, epistemic communities can be defined as:

“networks - often transnational - of knowledge-based experts with an authoritative claim to policy relevant knowledge within their domain of expertise.  Their members share knowledge about the causation of social or physical phenomena in an area for which they have a reputation for competence, and a common set of normative beliefs about what actions will benefit human welfare in such a domain” ​(Haas, 2001: 11579).​

This draws on Peter Haas’ seminal definition of epistemic communities as networks with the four components:

1. “A shared set of normative and principled beliefs which provide a value-based rationale for the social action of community members;
2. Shared causal beliefs which are derived from their analysis of practices leading or contributing to a central set of problems in their domain and which then serve as the basis for elucidating the multiple linkages between possible policy actions and desired outcomes; 
3. Shared notions of validity, that is, intersubjective, internally defined criteria for weighing and validating knowledge in the domain of their expertise; and 
4. A common policy enterprise, or a set of common practices associated with a set of problems to which their professional competence is directed, presumably out of the conviction that human welfare will be enhanced as a consequence” (Haas, 1992: 3).

These four components act as a framework to analyse the case study global alumni networks, with activity defined to support public diplomacy and creating this collective social class.  Drawing on these definitions they are reconceptualised for this study as:

1. values for social action;

2. shared problems and exploring shared solutions;

3. shared understanding of knowledge within the group;

4. shared focus to enhance local communities and global society.

As it is recognised that global alumni networks have a place to actively engage in public diplomacy (Rincón and Rutkowski, 2015) and ‘citizen activism’ (Campbell and Baxter, 2019), this article is an opportunity to put a conceptual shape on the trend for these networks as a platform for civic action and interrogating social class.

Values for social action – the case of AlumniPortal Deutschland

Global Goals, Powered by Alumni was the title of the report published by the funders of the AlumniPortal Deutschland (AlumniPortal Deutschland, 2018).  This report featured alumni vignettes that show the ways alumni are contributing to the delivery of the SDGs.  With the SDGs as a key national priority, the AlumniPortal Deutschland offers collaborative online events using design thinking to consider some of these shared problems related to sustainability to begin to collectively identify possible solutions.  These events are open and promoted to all Germany alumni in order to gather a transdisciplinary group of alumni from engineers to project managers to art practitioners to those with business development or marketing expertise to consider solutions drawing on SDG targets.  These initial collective project ideas demonstrated the AlumniPortal global reach and projects that involved the AlumniPortal industry partners aligned to German values.  For example, the AlumniPortal promoted the Alumni Network and Support for African Participation (ANSAP) project as part of the ‘Green People’s Energy for Africa’ project (Grüne Bürgerenergie Für Afrika) in partnership with Renac-Renewables Academy, an AlumniPortal partner, GIZ - the German Development Agency and financed by the BMZ - the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (Renac-Renewables Academy, 2025).  These projects offer a collective view of shared values, and the social class positioning of shared influence - regardless of academic discipline or country of origin - to participate as the shared status of Germany alumni.

Shared problems and exploring shared solutions – the case of Kader Asmal Alumni

The Ireland Fellows Programme (IFP) has three aims: to nurture future leaders; to develop in-country capacity to achieve the SDGs and to build positive relationships with Ireland (Irish Aid, 2024).  Alumni returning to South Africa after completing the Kader Asmal Fellowship as part of the IFP, self-organised into a network to solve a problem.  After returning from Ireland, the small group of alumni recognised the shared challenge of finding employment in South Africa that aligned to their educational experience in sustainable development, agriculture, gender equality and other social impact fields.  In 2018, to solve this problem, the group created a KAA directory, an online booklet that offered individual biographies of each alum featuring their Irish postgraduate study, interests, and work experience (Gallo, 2019). This directory enabled alumni to be advocates for each other, offering referrals and helping to find meaningful work linked to social impact.  As the network grew and formalised, the KAA also extended this support with skills development workshops, mentorship, and professional development.  The KAA network created a community focused on a shared social class.  They offer peer support for social impact opportunities in South Africa, even involving current Kader Asmal Fellows to connect with the KAA so that they know what to expect in being part of the network post-graduation.

Shared understanding of knowledge – the case of Danida Alumni Network, Denmark

Denmark alumni are a narrow group of former scholarship recipients supported through the Danida Fellowship Centre (DFC) (2021).  The DFC strategic plan that focuses on collective knowledge in action and fostering active global citizens, drawing on the SDGs and themes including green solutions, inclusiveness, and durability, which they summarise as ‘inspire, connect, act’ (Ibid.).  The Alumni Network is viewed as an integral part of achieving the aims of the DFC strategy, a ‘...platform for cross-sector and cross-country connections and knowledge sharing as well as for fostering multidisciplinary approaches to solving complex problems.  Local alumni networks within the global network connect in-country members’ (Ibid.).  The focus of alumni networks is on building capacity and energising alumni volunteer leaders to build country networks, thematic learning circles and ultimately communities of practice (CoP), defined as: ‘…groups of people who share a concern or passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly’ (Wenger and Wenger-Trayner, 2015). 

To motivate deep volunteer involvement, two alumni leaders from each regional or country chapter networks participated in the Danida Alumni Network Community of Practice Workshop (CoP workshop) held in Tanzania in February 2024 (Vlemmings, 2024).  The emphasis of these country alumni networks is to harness their energy to identify projects and initiatives that bring about learning and community change.  Therefore, DFC staff consider themselves as participating members of these CoPs; the DFC aims to be less of a ‘gatekeeper’, moving away from the DFC as donor to one of enabler for the global alumni networks at local level. The CoP Workshop was described as ‘..a platform for cross-cultural exchange and inspiration, transcending geographical boundaries in pursuit of common goals.’ (Ibid.) To evaluate the impact of this new alumni strategy, DFC intend administering an annual alumni survey to assess how the alumni-led format remains mutually beneficial for alumni and Danish public diplomacy.  Knowledge-sharing between alumni - on sustainability issues and on local event success - creates a shared social class amongst the Danida alumni.

Shared focus to enhance local communities and global society – the case of the Swedish Institute Alumni

For years, the Swedish Institute (SI) has certified volunteer-led alumni networks around the world comprised of former international students, primarily from the global South, who received scholarships to study in Sweden, 51 in total in 2024 (Swedish Institute a, 2024).  In this model, the purpose of certification was initially to enable these recognised alumni networks to apply for funding to organise events.  Upon review, SI no longer offers project funding directly to local alumni networks, as the work was highly administrative (for each event or project) for little funding.  Instead, SI alumni networks facilitated a process where local alumni networks and embassies work together to create a plan of actions and events, with the embassy then applying for the funding to realise these initiatives.

Unlike traditional alumni reunion or social occasions, these alumni events focus on an alignment to Swedish values such as sustainability or equality and for multiple purposes.  First, solidifying the shared focus of Swedish values and educational experience among alumni in their country of return.  Second, these local events showcased the experiences of alumni post-graduation, highlighting the global impact of Swedish education.  Finally, events offered a platform to initiate a collective alumni social action within local communities.  For example, Sweden alumni in Mumbai India organised a plogging event – picking up litter and jogging – at a local beach, while alumni in Ethiopia held a #GlobalGuyTalk event, bringing alumni together with a SI supported script of questions to discuss issues of gender equality (Swedish Institute b, 2024).

SI alumni local leaders who operate local networks are invited to participate in an annual alumni leader meeting event in Sweden to share experiences and be updated on the latest SI activities.  This serves as stewardship and gratitude for alumni leadership, and the collective nature of sharing a ‘think global, act local’ mindset.  Each local alumni network chooses one board member to travel to Sweden for the meeting which is held in advance of SI’s Inspiration Day where diplomas are awarded to current scholarship winners, thus enabling alumni to attend this important occasion.  This creates a leadership skills development event for alumni, and an event to showcase the alumni impact to the most recent SI scholarship winners.  In 2023, SI launched the alumni academy, offering online programming for SI alumni including professional development, capacity building, mentorship and ‘career boost sessions’ (Swedish Institute c, 2024).  This extended programming offers SI alumni with an anchor of Swedish education to imprint values to bring further influence on local communities.

Rethinking Global Alumni Networks: national priorities, mutual benefits, and a question of social class

Activating global alumni networks that focus on national priorities as the driver for their work post-COVID, recognise the importance of developing activities that have a mutually beneficial value proposition for the country but also for the alumni themselves.  Higher education, especially for scholarship or fellowship awardees from the global South, may have social action drivers at their heart, but students also recognise the value of advancing and benefitting from social mobility that comes through higher education (Ingram et al., 2023).

Figure 3 presents the most recent research on global alumni networks from 2024.  While the case studies continue to be anchored in national priorities, there is a movement for the networks to offer initiatives that contribute to social class mobility, such as through career support and professional development programmes.  The research suggests that global alumni networks have shifted from their anchor location on the Global Alumni Network Matrix, as depicted in Figure 2 and with the country name in Figure 3.  The arrow in Figure 3, moving a country from one quadrant of the matrix to another, shows how the alumni network’s programming is shifting from broad-based priority work to supporting individual alumni with social class mobility, such as with alumni career, leadership and professional development opportunities. The networks have recognised that by supporting individual alumni development the result is that these alumni are in an even better position to advocate for the anchor values and national priorities of the global alumni network.  As a further extension, these alumni - demonstrating their voluntary action and impact as accomplished leaders and experts in their respective fields - become social mobility role models, encouraging others from their community to consider studying in the same country.

The Alumni UK in Figure 3, original to this article, offers the converse of other networks.  First, Alumni UK focused on supporting international alumni in their early career aspirations, moving in 2024 to a call for alumni ambassadors by region and to advocate for the SDGs.  These ambassadors contribute to supporting networking events and British Council international student recruitment promotional activities (Alumni UK b, 2024).

Figure 3: The Shift in Global Alumni Networks Aims Supporting Social Class Ideals

As these global alumni networks mature, they become more fluid in their purpose.  They move from a focus on national priorities to one building of social class of higher education alumni who, by virtual of this individual support, become a collective group of advocates and ambassadors for their country of study and social changemakers in their local communities.

Summary: Global Alumni Networks as a Thought Collective

In his seminal book, originally published in German in 1935, Genesis and Development of Scientific Fact, Ludvik Fleck presents the concept of the thought collective.  Fleck defines the thought collective as:  

“a community of persons mutually exchanging ideas or maintaining intellectual interaction, we will find by implication that it also provides the special ‘carrier’ for the historical development of any field of thought, as well as for the given stock of knowledge and level of culture” (Fleck, 1979: 39).

This definition offers a heuristic device to view global alumni networks and its alumni-led social impact collective activity driven through global alumni networks.  As cited by Fleck and consistent with the purpose of the global alumni networks is: ‘the end goal is always for the betterment of society, rather than self-gain of the communities themselves’ (Ibid.).  In the 2024 research on global alumni networks there was a recognition of the cohesive potential of these networks to respond to some of the greatest challenges on the planet by addressing the SDG targets.  The research suggests the global alumni networks create the conditions for this thought collective, encouraging an exchange of ideas that align to a country of study’s values, such as gender equality, addressing climate change through sustainability measures and other SDG-aligned ideas.  In this research, one KAA alum described the potential of the global alumni network as a ‘thinking community’ that is, a collective group open with shared values to think and act on the needs of the local community. 

Global alumni networks are a collective that embody the aspirations of a country’s higher education system: to create ambitious, engaged and mobilised graduates.  These alumni collectively organised through the alumni network (and regional alumni chapters in cities and countries worldwide) are motivated to promote key country-of-study values, raise awareness of global issues and act locally as global alumni citizens.  For instance, the Danida Alumni Network is drawing its work on alumni leadership from Knowledge in Action, the Danida Fellowship Centre’s Strategic Plan, that embodies the ambition ‘to prepare individuals to act as change agents who contribute to transforming their organisations and communities through new knowledge, skills, motivation, inspiration and networks’ (DFC, 2021: 2).

As global alumni networks mature, the research suggests that the new focus on capacity building and leadership development of alumni enables them to be equipped with a country’s development education values - such as investigating the root causes of inequality.  Alumni engaged in these networks create local epistemic communities to raise awareness of global issues through local actions, events, debates and platforms for discussion.  The thought collective nature of global alumni networks enables alumni from different academic disciplines to contribute to different topics and find convergence and even consider ways to tackle SDG-related targets in their local communities contributing from their own perspectives and areas of expertise.   While the set-up of global alumni networks may come from a different starting point, for a specific group of alumni or with a national focus in mind, the convergence in the collective social class and mobility that comes from this shared educational experience. 

As governments and key national agencies continue the trend of building global alumni networks, this article shows the importance of a balanced purpose in its approach.  On one hand the design of a global alumni network needs to reinforce the country’s national priorities including internationalisation of education.  On the other hand, national priorities of showing how international education (and in some cases scholarship alumni from the global South) is having an impact on sustainability and equality agendas aligned to the SDGs.  This delicate balance is only fruitful for global alumni networks when the dimension of professional development and leadership support allow alumni to be better informed, equipped, build their careers to be recruitment ambassadors, change agents, equality champions and sustainability leaders. Global alumni networks create a cascade effect: offering lifelong support to alumni contributes to social class mobility, thus leading to the building of ‘thinking communities’ of active global alumni citizens.

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Maria Gallo is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Social Innovation at the Trinity Business School, Trinity College Dublin.  She is the author of The Alumni Way: Building Lifelong Value from Your University Investment (2021, Policy Press).  She is a philanthropy researcher with a focus on alumni engagement and global alumni networks as a vehicle to build social capital.  She holds a doctorate from the University of Sheffield and an undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto.  From 2021 to 2023 she was the Expert Alumni Advisor at CERN, Switzerland.  The author wishes to acknowledge the funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Government of Ireland (Global Irish Unit, 2019; Irish Aid, 2024) for funding to support this research on global alumni networks.