From the SOMAA President: Opt In

Greetings, Yale SOM alumni. I am honored and excited to be serving as the president of your alumni association for the next two years. This is a critical time of transition at the school, a generational inflection point. I see a unique opportunity for us to transform our alumni association, and your relationship with Yale SOM, into a vibrant and relevant part of your everyday professional and personal life.

In short, your alumni association is taking the analog approach to Dean Podolny's vision of tearing down the silos of traditional business school education and applying this construct to redefining what an alumni association is.

Here's our plan:

1) Trust. The SOMAA Board will continue to build on the new and improved relationship we have forged over the last two years with Yale SOM’s administration, faculty, staff, our regional groups, and Yale. We will be active partners in building on Dean Podolny's vision for the school, as well as catalysts for change where and when that is appropriate. We are grateful to be working with a talented and committed team at Yale SOM that support the unprecedented path we have started upon in this relationship. Building trust at each step we take is the critical keystone.

2) Use the web effectively. We are actively collaborating with SOM to create a web platform and social-networking applications that enable the creation of a globally wired Yale SOM community where we can all communicate, learn, share knowledge and resources, and organize regional activities.

3) Bricks and mortar. Virtual worlds matter, but so do bricks and mortar. We have dedicated an outstanding team of individuals to continue our energetic program to support regional group development. Our goal is to make it easier for you and others in your area to get together, share information, lead, follow, build community, help one another, and make a difference.

4) For God and country. I have always been astounded by the lack of connection between Yale alumni and Yale SOM alumni, and we are going to change that. The good news is that Yale wants to change it too. We are actively engaged with the leadership of AYA and in the process of putting together a strategic and tactical plan that gets AYA, Yale SOM, and the other professional schools wired together around the world in a single community that we can all benefit from.

So, here it comes, the call to action part. Put your check books away for a minute — ok, only a minute, we do have a new campus to build. You are the missing ingredient in creating a community that matters. We need you in order to get to critical mass. We need to get enough alum buy-in to get networking effects working. We need you to opt in. I am asking you to reach out. Start communicating with one another. Go to a regional meeting or two. Help organize an event. Keep an eye on our web community developments over the next few quarters and start using the system. Start or participate in a virtual interest group. Get yourself elected to this board. And for goodness's sake, take that call or email from some newbie student, grad, or struggling alum who needs a bit of TLC. Opt in.

Damon Danielson ’86
President, Yale SOM Alumni Association (SOMAA)


SOMAA Election Results
Eight new members of the Yale SOM Alumni Association Board of Directors will begin their three-year terms of service on June 23. The following alumni were elected by fellow SOMers:

Cindy Albert Link '80
Sheila Cavanaugh '91
Jean Chiniara '81
Susan Lennon '85
Craig Paullin '85
Julie Richman '86
Jim Stroiney '01
Deborah Zurkow '87

Three alumni will serve as Yale SOM delegates to the Association of Yale Alumni (AYA) Assembly of alumni volunteers:

Zuri Briscoe '07
Rakhi Kumar '01
Rob Greenly '83