Most advancement teams spend their weeks reacting to whatever's next on the calendar. The teams that do truly great work do something harder: they step back and design the conditions that make excellence possible.

In this episode of Alumless, Ryan and Chris sit down with Shara Freeman Hoefel — Assistant Vice Chancellor for Alumni Relations at UC San Diego — to talk about exactly that. Shara shares how "unreasonable hospitality" changes the way an alumni team connects, how she uses CASE metrics without losing the human side, and how she makes giving feel like belonging rather than a transaction. Plus: why she treats her alumni board as a cabinet rather than a rubber stamp, and how the way you gather can quietly elevate people's sense of belonging.

Alumless is brought to you by our Season 4 presenting sponsors — Protopia, AlumnIQ, Givzey, and Richmond Associates. We're grateful for their support.

Every alumni organization eventually hits a season where everything seems to change at once. For Northwestern, that season is now.

In this episode of Alumless, Ryan and Chris sit down with Lindsay Vahl Dean — Assistant Vice President for Alumni Engagement and Executive Director of the Northwestern Alumni Association — to talk about leading through it. Lindsay shares how she approaches organizational change management, integrates engagement with fundraising strategy, and builds a culture of advance planning that supports both alumni and staff. Plus: why succession planning and governance at the club level deserve more attention than they get.

Alumless is brought to you by our Season 4 presenting sponsors — Protopia, AlumnIQ, Givzey, and Richmond Associates. We're grateful for their support.

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.