Next-Gen Leaders

Are you an OHIO graduate under age 35? Are you looking to reconnect with the University? Are you interested in volunteering? If you answered yes to these questions, you may be a candidate for the Ohio University Alumni Association’s Young Alumni Leaders (YAL) Program.

Now in its second year, YAL gathers about 30 recent graduates for monthly in-person and virtual meetings. Through hands-on volunteer projects and professional development discussions, YAL participants cultivate skills that can be applied to volunteer opportunities with OHIO, as well as in their personal and professional lives.

“This isn’t for someone looking for just another leadership program,” says Dana Wright, senior associate director of student and early engagement in the Office of Alumni Relations. “It’s a way for passionate Bobcats who have been away from OHIO for a few years to find a really intentional way to reconnect and reach back to the place that meant so much to them.”

Wright and Laurie Lach, assistant vice president of alumni relations and campus partnerships, created YAL to fill a long-standing gap in OHIO’s alumni outreach: Today’s volunteers tend to be professionals further along in their careers. While their contributions are incredibly important, Lach says, the Office of Alumni Relations was missing a “thoughtful way to engage alumni during that transition time from student to young professional.”

Based on the experiences of the inaugural YAL cohort, which wrapped up in April 2024, there is a mighty appetite. Sam Glaser, BBA ’20, found that the program allowed him to reconcile “the lack of closure” he felt after his senior year was cut short by COVID-19. While Glaser had previously taken part in various College of Business alumni programs, YAL was an opportunity to receive “more holistic and effective” guidance about becoming a productive volunteer.

The curriculum centered on “The 6 Types of Working Genius,” by bestselling author Patrick Lencioni, which posits that every person brings a specific kind of “genius,” or area in which they excel, to a given project. Glaser says the book and virtual discussions about it challenged him and fellow participants to “narrow in on what made us each passionate about OU” and identify the areas where they could make the biggest impact.

This idea of intentional volunteerism is what resonated most with Imani Edwards, BSS ’19, who also appreciated the program’s goal of cultivating the next generation of alumni volunteers.

“We are young, but we have very unique experiences,” which can help the University better serve current students and connect with younger alumni, says Edwards. “I want to be part of the progress.”

About halfway through the seven-month program, YAL participants were divided into small groups to put their newfound leadership skills into action, meeting with deans of individual colleges to offer suggestions on various challenges related to volunteerism or young alumni engagement.

Based on the enthusiasm the first cohort brought to these engagement projects, Wright says the 2024-25 cohort began their projects earlier in the program. That group “wanted to dive in immediately. They were doers,” she notes. The second cohort began in September 2024 and ran through March 2025.

Applications for the 2025-26 cohort are open from late spring into summer, and Edwards says she wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the program.

“YAL taught me to find strength in the power [of] where I am in life,” she says.

Taylor Connelly, BSJ ’26, contributed to this story

Feature illustration by Maya Ish-Shalom