New senior director of Alumni Relations

Leisha LeCouvie says the biggest challenge facing university alumni relations teams today is finding ways to better connect with the younger generation.

As the new senior director of Alumni Relations at Concordia, she’s eager to face that challenge head on.

“For recent graduates, there are so many things competing for their attention,” LeCouvie says. “We need to find out what’s most interesting to these graduates and get them to reconnect.”

On June 30, LeCouvie began her new role at Concordia after many years in alumni relations at McGill University, where she was most recently director of Parent and Affinity Programs. “At McGill, I learned a great deal about tradition and the value of deep alumni connections,” she says. 

A native of Montreal, Lecouvie studied at Trent University, Ontario. Yet she’s no stranger to Concordia — it’s where LeCouvie landed her first alumni relations position, in 1989, when she was given the task of helping to organize Concordia’s very first Homecoming in 1990. She later worked as a marketing officer at the university for 11 years.

“Concordia really gave me my start in my profession and, I am so delighted to come back with great experience, new ideas and knowing that the Concordia University Alumni Association has only grown stronger while I’ve been away,” she says.

As senior director, LeCouvie oversees the Alumni Relations and Events team. Her team liaises with the Concordia University Alumni Association and organizes Homecoming. They will continue to introduce new ways to engage alumni, cultivate volunteers and bring graduates back into the Concordia community.

“A university like Concordia is doing such great things; I think it’s really interesting for grads to hear about all that’s happening,” she says.

Bram Freedman, Concordia’s vice-president of Development and External Relations, and Secretary General, says LeCouvie will ably drive Alumni Relations. “I’ve known Leisha for many years, and I’ve always been impressed by her drive, vision and intelligence,” he says. “I’m very excited that she’s bringing those qualities back to Concordia and its alumni.”

LeCouvie is eager to get started.“I think that the Alumni Relations team has done some really good work,” she says. “My goal over the next five years is to make it the best alumni relations unit in Canada. I know we can do it.”