Alumni association gets new board of directors and executive

Kim Fuller, BFA 96, is the association’s incoming president. She follows Philippe Pourreaux, BComm 00, who held the position since 2010.

Fuller joined the board in 2011. “It was a great opportunity to get involved with such a big institution and see the inner workings of the board of directors,” she says. “I did a lot of committee work. They kept asking me to do things, and I kept saying ‘yes.’”

Fuller is founder of Phil Communications, a Montreal-based communications agency that works with non-profit organizations.

New strategy

This year’s nomination process was slightly different given the recent amalgamation of the alumni associations. “Emphasis was placed on ensuring that the composition of the board represents the alumni community, including graduates from Concordia’s founding institutions, Sir George Williams University and Loyola College,” explains Nancy Wada, alumni officer for board and volunteer management in Concordia’s Advancement and Alumni Relations.

The association considered applications from outside Montreal for the first time. “We made a conscious effort in the nomination process to get alumni from central and western North America involved,” Fuller says. “We want to strengthen our presence regionally and hear from graduates living outside Montreal.”

The role of the board is to foster connections between Concordia and its 193,000 alumni worldwide. “Our focus is also on supporting the university’s mandate and creating a meaningful alumni experience,” Fuller explains.

Another goal is to increase awareness of the association. “Much of our programming in the next five years will focus on students and recent graduates. It is important to welcome incoming students to the alumni family and to provide services and benefits to them once they leave campus,” says Fuller.

She also looks to enhance the association’s visibility. “Our immediate community is Greater Montreal, and many of our events are open to our neighbours,” Fuller says.

The Concordia University Alumni Association’s board of directors meets several times per year. Nominations for the board of directors and executive team will reopen in spring 2016.

“We believe that this year’s board is truly representative of the greater alumni community,” says Leisha LeCouvie, Concordia’s senior director of Alumni Relations. “We’re looking forward to an exciting year of activities and outreach.”