Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the physical meeting will not take place this spring. Instead, 128 alumni network board members from 47 alumni networks are meeting through an online course in three parts starting 25 April 2020.
In three 120 minutes sessions, alumni will gain skills in leadership, conflict resolution and efficient network management. The purpose is for alumni to meet and learn from each other, strengthen their individual capacity as well as the capacity to run networks in a democratic, transparent and inclusive way. The course is run and facilitated by Swedish global learning provider Hyper Island in collaboration with SI.
– The upside with an online course is that three board members from each network can now participate, compared to only one member in the physical meeting in Stockholm. We are hoping that this, combined with interactive modules will create more impact regarding learning from each other and bringing back relevant info to share with the network, says SI Alumni Relations Manager, Linnéa Lindgren.
One of the 128 course attendees is Oltjon Rukaj, a Lund University alumni and a 2019 SI Summer Academy for Young Professionals participant. Oltjon works as a Public Relations Expert and is the current Chairperson of the SI Alumni Network Albania.
– I was sceptical to meeting online at first, but it was in fact really good and I felt like I was there in round tables working in teams with groups from different nationalities. I learned many things about how to work with our local group and how important it is for each Alumni network to be run in a democratic, transparent and inclusive way and try to have a good impact on our society. In the coming modules, I hope to get to know other network members and expand my connections with people from different perspectives.
The SI alumni team is looking forward to the other two modules in leadership and conflict resolution that will take place 9 May and 13 June 2020.