Spring Volunteer Conference Brings Alumni Leaders Back to Brunswick

Volunteer leaders from the Bowdoin College Black Alumni Association (BCBAA), Association of Bowdoin Latinx Alumni (ABLA), and RepresentAsian, Bowdoin’s Asian alumni association, joined the conference as members of the Alumni Council to share updates from their meetings and participate in the council’s work.

 The conference began with the heartwarming twenty-fifth anniversary celebration of the McKeen Center’s Common Good Grant Program in Barry Mills Hall.   

Throughout the conference, volunteers enjoyed meals and presentations together, including time with President Safa Zaki and panel discussions on the Hastings Initiative for AI and Humanity and the student experience. Other meetings and discussions included:

• The Alumni Council conducted its plenary sessions and individual committeemeetings, including awards that recognize volunteers across the alumni community. Council members heard from Ashmead White Executive Director of Athletics Tim Ryan ’98 and Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Senior Woman Administrator Alice Wiercinski, who spoke about Koomba, an online platform that makes it easy for student-athletes to connect with sport psychologists, mental performance coaches, and sport nutritionists to achieve peak performance. They also discussed current achievements of student-athletes both academically and in competition, as well as what lies ahead.
  
  
• The Alumni Fund directorsspent time learning about Bowdoin’s leadership giving program, reviewed the successes of Bowdoin One Day and shared their feedback on the effort, and identified opportunities to enhance engagement from more than 800 alumni fundraising volunteers. They celebrated progress made on implementing a new volunteer system in collaboration with the annual giving team and shared ideas for expanding its usage across the volunteer cohort. They also heard from Senior Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Heather Krajewski, who shared updates and answered questions from the group.   
  
  
• BNAB participated in a series of conversationsrecapping the fall 2025 interview season and identified ways to improve the process for next fall while better engaging BRAVO members in the interview process. They also heard from chemistry professor Michael Henderson and three of his students about the student research experience at Bowdoin, a common area of interest among prospective students and their families when in conversation with BRAVO volunteers. Senior interviewer Maddie Wilkin ’26 also spoke with the group about her experience interviewing more than forty prospective students last fall. 
  
  

On Friday afternoon, the alumni volunteers joined more than forty members of the Class of 2026 for a networking event cohosted by the Office of Career Exploration and Development (CXD), the Alumni Council Career Committee, and the senior student class agents. Later that evening, volunteers were treated to a performance by BOKA, Bowdoin’s oldest coed a cappella group. Concluding the celebratory dinner, fourteen alumni volunteers with terms ending June 30, 2026, were recognized for their dedicated service to the College:

• Alumni Council: Selina Asante ’07, Praise Hall ’20, Mariya Ilyas ’13, Alex McCray ’93, Terrence Pleasant ’09, Phil Poulter ’62, P ’94, John Shukie ’99, Hope Stockton ’07, and Jackson Wilkinson ’05.
  
  
• Alumni Fund Directors: Lance Conrad '91, P'28 (chair), Roman Jackson '06, Aziza Janmohamed '19, Cliff Webster '72, P'10, P'16, and Anne Converse Willkomm '87

Learn more about these volunteer and affinity groups by visiting the Alumni Council, Alumni Fund Director, BRAVO and Multicultural Alumni Engagement webpages.