Get Involved
All alumni can enrich their careers and lives through the invaluable resources available only to graduates of Columbia Business School — including access to a global community of over 41,000 alumni.
Volunteering maximizes an alumnus’ personal and professional relationships within the alumni network, while simultaneously strengthening the value and effectiveness of events, clubs, and other alumni initiatives. Alumni volunteers have a direct, positive impact on the School, especially for current students, and volunteering brings with it a powerful sense of giving back and earned reward.
Below you will find multiple ways to get involved as an alumni volunteer.
Columbia Career Network (CCN)
Launched in August 2010, the Columbia Career Network is an initiative to strengthen and build upon the School’s extensive global community. It will serve as the umbrella identifier for every instance where students will have the opportunity to engage and leverage the Columbia Business School network — including alumni, faculty members, staff, Executives-in-Residence, and others who are dedicated to the industry and career education of our students.
The Columbia Career Network replaces the Alumni Advisor program, which connected alumni volunteers with incoming students to help them make the most of their time while at Columbia Business School. Feedback from both alumni and students clearly revealed that pure industry-based mentoring would provide stronger ties between students and alumni and prove more beneficial to all.
All alumni will be considered members of the Columbia Career Network and are strongly encouraged to respond to all calls and emails from inquiring students, even if just to postpone a brief conversation until it is more convenient.
Columbia Career Network Mentor
While all alumni are considered members of the Columbia Career Network, if you sign up to be a Columbia Career Network mentor, you will be highlighted as an alumnus/a who particularly welcomes current students contacting you with questions about the industry you work in, your career path, and your perspective on how to make the most of their time at Columbia Business School. Your responsibility will be to reply back to student inquiries in a timely manner and help them make the most of the Columbia Career Network.
If you would like to become a CCN mentor to current students, please log in to the Network section of the website, select "Edit My Profile" from the left hand-side menu, and click Volunteer Sign-up under edit my interests. Additionally, we encourage you to take a moment to also edit your alumni profile search settings so that students are able to connect with you via social networking. You can do this by adjusting your account settings within the Network.
If you have any additional questions or comments, please contact Marisa Totino at mat2193@columbia.edu.
Columbia Career Network Guest Speaker or Panelist
Throughout the academic year, the Office of Alumni Relations and student clubs host a variety of programming including: panel discussions, student club conferences, career networking series, and EMBA Lunchtime Speaker Series. As a commitment to maintain a strong alumni presence on campus and to develop and nurture the Columbia Business School community, Alumni Relations welcomes alumni to speak to students about their industry and expertise.
If you are interested in being a guest speaker or panelist and would like more information, please contact Marisa Totino at mat2193@columbia.edu. If you would like to sign-up online, please log in to the Network section of the website, select "Edit My Profile" from the left hand-side menu, and click Volunteer Sign-up under edit my interests.
Reunion Committee Member
We are delighted to welcome alumni back to Columbia Business School for a weekend of reconnecting and learning. Each year, we are pleased to invite back all alumni of the MBA and EMBA programs who are celebrating their 1st, 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th, 30th, 35th, 40th, 45th, and 50th Reunion years, as well as those members of the Platinum Classes who have already celebrated their 50th reunion. Please contact Matt Quam at mgq2101@columbia.edu if you would like to get involved in your class’s reunion efforts.
Ambassador Program
Columbia Business School’s Ambassador program enlists alumni from the MBA program to interview applicants in more than 50 countries. As a volunteer you will assist in evaluating candidates through assessment of their interviewing and communication skills, the quality of their work experience, and the match of the applicant with the MBA program.
We especially encourage alumni who reside in Washington, D.C., Canada, Korea, India, and any countries outside of the United States to volunteer as those are areas in which interviewers are currently needed.
If you are interested in learning more about the MBA Ambassador program, contact Felicia Goodman at fcg2111@columbia.edu.
EMBAssador Program
Columbia Business School’s Executive MBA program retains its strong reputation in the marketplace in large part due to the remarkable students it attracts and admits. You can help the School increase the size and quality of the EMBA applicant pool by becoming an “EMBAssador.” Nobody knows better than you what it takes to be successful in the program, and that’s why the School is asking you to recommend at least one exceptional person to the EMBA program.
To access the EMBAssador online referral form, please click here. Then simply provide contact information for yourself and the person you are referring. You may also supply up to 200 words on why you think this person would be right for the Columbia Business School’s EMBA Program. Our admissions team will reach out and invite the person to learn more — no obligation, no hard sell.
We have had more than 150 referrals in the short time the EMBAssador program has been in effect — and we are proud to say we have current students who can be traced back to an EMBAssador referral.
For more information on the EMBAssador program, please contact Megan Shaughnessy at mts2159@columbia.edu.
Alumni Club Volunteer
The School welcomes all alumni who are interested in becoming Columbia Business School alumni club volunteers. As a volunteer, you can help in a variety of ways, such as planning industry programming, coordinating activities and student trips, facilitating young alumni events, or serving as a liaison for the Career Management Center. If you are interested in getting involved with an existing club, please visit the alumni clubs page of the Benefits section and click the location of the club nearest you for details of who to contact.
Volunteers are also encouraged to take on a leadership position within the club, where you will serve as the primary liaisons between Columbia Business School and the alumni population of your region. Each Columbia Business School alumni club has an appointed president or set of co-presidents who oversee a leadership team.
For more information about alumni club opportunities, please contact Michelle Santoro at mps2104@columbia.edu.
Admitted Student Matching
To build on the strength of Columbia Business School's alumni network and ensure Columbia continues to attract the best and brightest, the Admitted Student Matching Program was launched in 2003. The Admissions Office coordinates this program and continues to rely on the support of graduates to make this program a success.
Each year since its inception, over 400 alumni from around the globe have signed up to welcome admitted students to Columbia Business School through a friendly phone call. We have received wonderful feedback from the admitted students regarding this program, as they are impressed to receive a call from an alumnus working in their desired post-MBA industry. Admitted students constantly note that the welcoming tone of Columbia Business School and its alumni is highly influential in their decision to attend.
We do our best to match admitted students to alumni in their geographical area with similar professional backgrounds, and we ask that you call to congratulate them on their admission, answer any questions related to Columbia Business School, share how Columbia Business School has affected your life, and help encourage them to attend.
