“The thing I hear the most is that students will say ‘when I have millions of dollars, NYU will be the first place I'll give to’, and that's great because if you have millions of dollars then you’re able to support the school… I care about that, but I care more about people that give one dollar today,” said John Pine, Director of The Office of Alumni Relations & Annual Giving. While discussing the future of the relationship between NYU Abu Dhabi and its growing body of alumni with The Gazelle, Pine highlighted not only the importance of donations but also the Office’s expanding programming.

Pine and his team are spearheading new initiatives to make sure alumni and students feel connected while also spreading the word about ways alumni can give back to the community. With 814 alumni spread across 66 countries, the Alumni Relations team has the challenge of keeping everyone connected which requires careful planning and long-term strategy.

“So a traditional model of alumni relations would be we're going to have programs and bring people together. We can do that, but we can only do that in a couple of cities where there are enough people to warrant a program. New York, London, [Washington] D.C., Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing and the UAE. Those are sort of the only places where there are enough people,” said Pine. Still, the office is hoping to expand these plans to cities with fewer alumni, keeping the network strong even in far to reach places.

“What we want to do is encourage people to engage with each other, even in a city where there are just three Abu Dhabi grads. The community is small enough that people sort of know each other and can connect,” Pine added.

Thinking long term is one of the goals for the office, making it easier to combine the different facets of alumni relations. While there is a large network of NYU alumni from the Shanghai and New York campuses, the team is focusing on interacting with NYUAD graduates.

“In my year of planning, I met with students, alumni, faculty and staff. With people in New York, [and] with people in Abu Dhabi. We developed a four part objective, that really talks strategically how we will engage the alums of NYUAD,” explained Pine.

The four part objective, is the guiding vision to a detailed five year plan. The four objectives are Advocacy & Engagement, Communication & Outreach, Philanthropy and Student Involvement.

The Advocacy & Engagement objective aims to help alumni stay connected with each other and the NYU community in addition to helping tell the story of NYU Abu Dhabi.

Communication & Outreach will be about keeping alumni informed about their home campus and informing students about what alumni are doing beyond Saadiyat. Pine is working toward telling stories of the road less travelled by highlighting those students who have chosen to take alternative career paths such as making travel videos or working in NGOs.

Through the Philanthropy objective, the Office of Alumni Relations and Annual giving plans to communicate to students and alumni the importance of giving back to the community and how small contributions can have a lasting impact.

Student Involvement places a special emphasis on connecting current students with alumni in the region and beyond. Various events are being rolled out through the semester for students to learn and engage with graduates.

One of the new initiatives taking place this semester is The Student Philanthropy Institute. Existing under the banner of both student involvement and philanthropy, students will get the opportunity to meet philanthropists in the region and gain practical knowledge of what that field looks like. This initiative was born from Pine’s frequent discussions with students on campus and the increasing interest to work in the non-profit space.

“Creating opportunities to make a better world, that's sort of a fundamental message of this place right,” explained Pine.

“We’re sort of soft launching it this semester. There's one next week with people from the Al Ghurair Foundation which is in Dubai.”

On Friday, April 12, the Office of Alumni Relations and Senior Year Experience Committee hosted the Alumni x Senior Brunch at The Abu Dhabi EDITION Hotel. The brunch brought together seniors and alumni now living and working in the region to gain an understanding of the way forward and the importance of giving back.

Students and alumni mingled throughout the brunch taking photographs and enjoying sticky toffee cake. John Pine spoke during the brunch explaining the resources available to graduating seniors and current alumni in addition to outlining his hopes for more alumni engagement and small contributions that will help build a culture of donating to the future of NYUAD. Student Government Vice President Chris Wheeler, Class of 2019, also spoke during the meal. Wheeler mentioned his initial skepticism with the concept of alumni donations but how after a brief discussion with Pine, he had changed his mind and felt compelled to help the Alumni Relations team.

 “...We don't realize how important donating is but turns out it makes a big difference and as an alumni I think I will be more conscious of doing these sorts of things, so I'm glad I was here,” said Shanzey Altaf, Class of 2018.

Beyond practical information about new alumni initiatives and priorities, attendees had the opportunity to network with both Class of 2019 students and alumni. “It was also good to see a lot of alumni that are still here in the region, lots of seniors who I… saw at lunch. It was a really heartwarming experience,” Altaf added.

“...I think it was very important for alumni to come and see what the future holds for NYUAD but from a different angle, being an an alumni.”

Others saw the brunch as an eye opening event that, similar to many aspects of NYUAD, demonstrates the control and responsibility students have in shaping the future of the university.

Shujaat Mirza, Class of 2018 ended with the following, “In terms of long term, as John said, [the Class of 2014 are] going to have the first five year anniversary in October so were a young school and haven't had this connection before. This is the time where we will define what alumni relations will look like in the future.”