Hawken Philanthropy Board

On Wednesday, Ella and I had the opportunity to meet with the entire Hawken Alumni Advancement Office. We spoke with Ms. Guzzi and Ms. Boucher about our project in the morning and Ms. Anderson and Mr. Mallett in the afternoon. Ms. Guzzi and Ms. Boucher are in charge of Alumni giving for Hawken and the Alumni Annual Fund. At the beginning of our conversation, Ella and I gave both Ms. Guzzi and Ms. Boucher information about our project and the intent behind it. Both of them were so moved and excited about our project that it brought tears to their eyes. For me, this moment proved that all the hard work we were doing and the reasoning behind it was worth it. After our brief introduction, we immediately began discussing Hawken Philanthropy and the successful endeavors of the alumni office. We learned a lot about Hawken’s work with fundraising events. I have a new founded respect and understanding of the hard work the entire Alumni Staff do for the Hawken Community.   Later in the day...

              When Mr. Biggar, Ella, and I were establishing our project, we discussed the importance of obtaining firsthand information and statistics from students and alumni. Ella and I had a preconceived notion and assumption that there was disconnect between students and their understanding of philanthropy at Hawken. We were not sure why exactly the students did not seem service minded and philanthropy oriented. We believed that education, lack of meaningful experience, and lack of philanthropic culture were all possible reasons for decreased giving from young alumni. We believe that there is a link between current student attitude and future alumni giving. Early in February, Ella and I created survey questions for both students and alumni. For the alumni, we wanted to understand specifically what things they did and did not like about the school. (Especially what they disliked.) If we understood what people did not...

I have really enjoyed my Hawken Project with Ella. We have learned a lot about boards, philanthropy, and alumni relations. A really unique and great opportunity we have had with this project is connecting with a variety of professionals in various capacities. Overall, we have met with two dozen different alumni, high school staff/faculty, college staff/faculty, board members, and professionals in the non-profit field. An interview I found especially meaningful and significant was with Ruth Andrews and Andrea Brechtelsbauer from WRA’s Advancement Office. During our conversation, we discussed a variety of different aspects of philanthropy. We talked about the importance of service opportunities and learned about a unique activity WRA has for its students. In March, the Advancement Office and a group of senior students create and implement a philanthropy week for the entire school. Throughout the philanthropy week, students are educated about WRA’s rich history with philanthropy through...

Today is Monday, May 18, 2020. On Friday and throughout the weekend, Ella and I diligently worked on a variety of aspects of our project. Throughout Friday, we really focused on corresponding with a variety of professionals, identifying potential interviews for the following week, and contacting numerous student leaders within the Hawken community. We were able to set up over a dozen meeting with people for the following week. I am really looking forward to learning more about different alumni, schools, and non-profits. I think that the meetings will be extremely important for our project, and it will influence the structure of the board we are developing. Not only did we reach out to a variety of adult professionals, but we also wanted to reach out to the Hawken student body and promote the Hawken Philanthropy Leadership Board. On Friday, we reached out to each of Hawken’s Class deans to obtain a list of students that are leaders and philanthropy oriented. Over the weekend, Ella and...

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1p2Ii-IRxViyrewrDEBCNWr66dVAOJtWF52Xwo-bY5bA/edit?usp=sharing Today is Thursday, May 14, 2020. Ella and I had our first project check-in with Mr. Biggar. For our meeting, we decided to create an initial Power Point Presentation to present to him. We made a presentation that incorporated all of our work leading up to the meeting. During our meeting, Mr. Biggar gave us feedback at the end of each slide, and he asked us questions. Throughout the first week, Ella and I struggled with understanding the boundaries and limits the Hawken Philanthropy Leadership Board should have. It was unclear to us how much authority the board would have, and we did not know what projects were feasible and that the board could peruse next year. Mr. Biggar provided clarification and refined our current ideas. He emphasized the importance of thinking strategically in order to simplify the parameters of the board and make it feasible for the first year roll out. He also ...

Today is Wednesday, May 13, 2020. Ella and I are half way done with the first week of our project. We have completed a tremendous amount of work over the last three days. Ella has her final Advance Placement Chemistry test on Thursday, so she has been diligently studying and preparing for her exam. While Ella has been studying, I have been diligently fine-tuning the goals and parameters surrounding the Hawken Philanthropy Leadership Board. Earlier today, we sent out the Hawken Philanthropy Leadership Board application to the student body. We are hoping to receive 20-30 applications in total from students. Over the last few days, Ella and I have been intensely focused on shaping the foundation of the board and the board is expected to do. At first, we had an extremely wide range of concepts and ideas the board could focus on. However, we took a more realistic approach and identified the most important and necessary aspects for the Hawken Philanthropy Leadership Board to succeed. Mr. Big...

Throughout my high school career, I have been involved with sports, philanthropy, and academics at Hawken. As I have grown older and matured, I am continuing to understand the importance and meaning behind philanthropy. Before I leave Hawken, I believe that it is important, even essential, to give back to this great community in some way. I have such fond memories from my time at Hawken and want to say thank you to everyone who has helped shape who I am. With little to do during this time, it is a great opportunity to take advantage of this circumstance and do something meaningful. For our Hawken Project, I am looking to create the Hawken Philanthropy Board (the name may change). The Hawken Philanthropy Board (HPB) would be a collection of upper school students and faculty/staff dedicated to philanthropy and alumni relations. The board will likely consist of 6-8 qualified students and will meet on a monthly basis. The goal of the board is to educate the student body about how Hawken f...