The Foreign Service Journal, December 2015

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2015 41 implementing division) and the State Department’s Alumni Office are two separate entities. IVLP programming partners in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere are being encouraged to find creative ways to integrate alumni into programming. Unfortunately, there is no funding to allow them to connect to past IVLP participants in any significant way. Many program partners and alumni have expressed concerns about “owner- ship” of alumni. Though universities face a similar dilemma, many successful examples of alumni offices working more closely with academic departments lead us to believe it is very possible to integrate IVLP alumni into the current participant experience. Generating program multiplier effects will require a continued strategic commitment in both organizational and financial terms. Global Ties U.S. has worked to integrate alumni organizations into its membership base for two strategic rea- sons. IVLP alumni seek technical assistance in their capacity- building efforts at home. Not unlike our domestic nonprofit members, they look for guidance and support on nonprofit best practices, volunteer engagement, fund development and governance. In addition, the alumni organizations are eager to expand the partnerships they made as IVLP guests and form new ones. Global Ties U.S. can serve as a conduit back to Amer- ican institutions to support the ongoing work of alumni. Those of us who are keenly aware of the power of the rela- tionships built by the IVLP must help carry it forward. If we don’t continue to evolve, or “disrupt,” the program, someone else will. We can maintain the greatness and prominence of the program by responding strategically to the challenges con- fronting it with improvements that ensure increasing success for another 75 years. And we must do so. Our future depends on it. n It is easy to show photos of Anwar Sadat andMargaret Thatcher… [We] must be able to convey the same level of prestige and notoriety through stories of alumni who are changing the face of their societies, yet lack name recognition.