Alumless

At institutions with centuries of history, traditions can be both a source of strength and a barrier to change. On this episode of Alumless, Ryan and Chris sit down with Carolyn Gray Kimberlin, Vice President for Alumni Relations at Dartmouth College, to explore the tension between preserving institutional identity and evolving alumni engagement for a changing community.

Carolyn reflects on what makes Dartmouth’s alumni culture distinctive, how traditions shape the day-to-day work of engagement, and why leading at a 250-year-old institution requires a different approach to innovation and change management. The conversation explores how institutions can modernize engagement without alienating loyal alumni, and what it takes to bring skeptical stakeholders along during periods of transition.

In the bonus segment, the discussion turns to Dartmouth’s uniquely deep culture of volunteerism, including its network of class, affinity, and regional organizations. Carolyn shares how her team thinks about scaling engagement beyond formal leadership structures and balancing digital engagement with a community rooted in in-person experiences.

Alumless is presented by Protopia, AlumnIQ, and Givzey, and Richmond Associates.

On this week’s Alumless, Kim and Chris sit down with Scott Rosevear, Senior Vice President for University Strategy and Advancement at Bucknell University, to explore what happens when advancement is positioned as part of the institution’s strategic core, not downstream from it. The conversation centers on a simple but consequential shift: aligning engagement, philanthropy, and institutional priorities before a campaign ever goes public.

Scott offers a candid look at what it means to operate across cabinet, trustees, and volunteer leadership while preparing for a campaign launch, and why engagement goals need to be treated with the same rigor as financial targets. Along the way, the discussion surfaces a bigger idea — that advancement isn’t just responsible for outcomes, it helps define them.

Alumless is presented by Protopia, AlumnIQ, and Givzey, with support from Richmond Associates.

In Australia, university philanthropy is still finding its footing, which makes it one of the most interesting places to watch what comes next.

On this episode of Alumless World, Ryan sits down with Margo Powell, Chief Advancement Officer at La Trobe University, to talk about what it really takes to build a campaign in an environment where donor culture isn’t fully formed yet. Margo pulls back the curtain on La Trobe’s campaign, including the deliberate work behind aligning leadership, reshaping internal thinking, and building a culture of philanthropy from the ground up. Along the way, she makes a clear case that alumni are not just donors — they are connectors, advocates, and participants in a much broader exchange of value.

The back half of the episode leans into the harder questions: how to engage alumni who don’t feel connected, how to balance digital and in-person experiences, and what a modern engagement journey actually looks like when it’s built around the individual, not the institution. By the end, you start to see where this is going — toward a model where giving is a byproduct of relevance, not the starting point.

Alumless World is presented by Protopia, AlumnIQ, and Givzey, and Richmond Associates.

What does it take to truly align a campus around alumni engagement?

On this episode of Alumless, Ryan and Chris sit down with Kris Bosman, Chief Alumni Officer at the University of Utah, to explore how collaboration across campus can create scale and deepen alumni connections.

Using Utah’s 175th Anniversary as a case study, Kris shares how her team led a university-wide effort that brought together colleges, units, and athletics to create coordinated programming and shared momentum. The conversation dives into why collaboration is often so difficult in higher education and how leadership can reinforce a culture of shared ownership.

In the bonus segment, Kris highlights programs like Bringing the U to You and Ask an Alum as examples of scalable collaboration, discusses the role of volunteers in expanding reach, and reflects on how institutions can balance central strategy with local customization. She also looks ahead to what a fully collaborative alumni engagement model could look like in the years to come.

This episode of Alumless is made possible by our season sponsors Protopia, AlumnIQ, Givzey, with additional support from Richmond Associates.

In this special announcement, Ryan Catherwood introduces Speaking Engagement — a new professional development designed as a “conference on engagement that never sleeps.” Speaking Engagement brings together weekly Keynote interviews, Breakout conversations, articles, and live Agora events to create a continuous learning experience for engagement professionals. Instead of attending a conference once a year, this is an opportunity to stay immersed in ideas, trends, and strategies every single week. Ryan also shares how listeners can become part of the founding group — offering the first 50 Alumless listeners free lifetime access to the members-only version of the platform ahead of its official launch. If you’ve ever wished conferences didn’t end, this is your invitation to stay in the room.

What does it really take to step into a new advancement role and chart a new course in year one? This week on the show, Ryan and Chris Marshall chat with Jim Broschart, Vice President for Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement at the University of Louisville, to reflect on the realities of leading through transition. Jim shares what he saw in his first year at Louisville and how he assessed the health of the advancement operation. Our conversation explores how leaders decide what to change, what to preserve, and what it means to rethink the donor pipeline and engagement strategy in a new institutional context. We’ll discuss the challenges of aligning teams, breaking down silos, and introducing cultural shifts that support long-term growth. He reflects on lessons learned in his first year and what’s next as Louisville continues to evolve its approach to philanthropy and alumni engagement. This episode of Alumless is made possible by our season sponsors Protopia, AlumnIQ, Givzey, and Richmond Associates.

What happens when advancement communications is no longer a support function, but a central driver of alumni engagement? On this episode of Alumless, Lori Hurvitz, Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations at Tulane University, joins Ryan and Chris to explore what it means to align communications and engagement under one unified strategy.

Lori shares the thinking behind Tulane’s recent reorganization and how this shift is influencing everything from digital strategy to donor segmentation. The conversation explores the growing role of communications as a core engagement channel, how institutions can better capture alumni attention, and how this alignment supports campaign readiness for Tulane’s Only the Audacious campaign.

In the bonus segment, Lori reflects on how place, tradition, and storytelling shape engagement at Tulane, what she’s learned about what truly resonates with alumni, and how her team is thinking about channels like social media and print in a modern engagement strategy.

This episode of Alumless is made possible by our season sponsors Protopia, AlumnIQ, Givzey, and Richmond Associates.

In this episode of "Alumless Takes," Ryan Catherwood and Nick Kallail discuss the evolving role of regional engagement in alumni associations. They explore the effectiveness of formal versus informal volunteer-run organizations, with Nick emphasizing the importance of building flexible, community-driven networks that align with alumni interests. The conversation highlights the shift from traditional sports-focused events to diverse, service-oriented initiatives that foster meaningful connections among alumni. They also touch on the challenges and strategies of measuring success in alumni engagement and the impact of modern technology on traditional alumni activities.

This episode of Alumless is made possible by our season sponsors Protopia, AlumnIQ, and Givzey, with additional support from Richmond Associates.

What do alumni really think about their alma mater today, and what does that mean for the future of advancement?

On this super sized episode of Alumless, Ryan and Chris sit down with Howard Heevner, Co-Founder of the The National Alumni Survey, Executive Director of Annual Programs at the University of California, Berkeley, and Vice President and Consultant with CMAC, to unpack insights from the 2026 National Alumni Survey. Howard explains why the survey was launched and what it reveals about the changing relationship between institutions and their alumni.

The conversation explores generational shifts in philanthropic behavior and why Howard believes trust has become the most important currency in alumni engagement. The conversation continues with a discussion of the sector’s toughest questions: what may be broken in the traditional annual giving pipeline and how advancement leaders may need to rethink qualification, messaging, and donor journeys in the years ahead.

This episode of Alumless is made possible by our season sponsors Protopia, AlumnIQ, and Givzey, with additional support from Richmond Associates.

Metrics are shaping the future of alumni engagement, but only if institutions are willing to use them strategically.

On this bonus episode of Alumless World, Ryan and Nicole Hess Kempton are joined by special guest Barbara Dick, Assistant Vice President for Alumni Relations at the University of Toronto, for a global conversation on innovation in alumni engagement metrics. Barbara reflects on her path into advancement, her leadership in integrated advancement models, and the persistent silos that can limit institutional progress.

The discussion explores how nuanced engagement metrics can influence real decisions and how Toronto elevated engagement goals alongside financial targets during the Defy Gravity campaign.

In the bonus segment, Barbara shares practical advice for building institutional buy-in around engagement data and the global trends she believes will define the next frontier of alumni metrics.

This episode of Alumless World is made possible by our season sponsors Protopia, AlumnIQ, and Givzey, and our newest presenting sponsor, Richmond Associates.