With successful U.S. alumni hubs, the Moore School begins building an international alumni network
As a leader of international business, the Moore School already has a major presence around the globe. To encourage networking and support of Gamecocks abroad, a handful of alumni are building international alumni groups in countries with a high number of alumni to complement the U.S. cities’ networks.
The Moore School’s Office of Alumni Engagement is currently working with alumni leaders in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Colombia and Canada to formalize their international networks.
“These areas are home to large numbers of alumni and also represent areas that the Moore School is either currently traveling to or had collaborated with in the past through a variety of academic programs,” said Corey Mikels, a Moore School assistant director of alumni engagement.
The strategic goals for the international alumni initiative include finding opportunities overseas for students via internships and jobs, partnering with other institutions and universities abroad and expanding the alumni network through virtual and in-person engagement.
In 2020-21 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the international alumni participated in a variety of events, including a virtual beer tasting (see box for more info on that event), virtual trivia nights, Moore School staff and faculty discussions, among other events.
“We would like to have several other cities and countries added to our list and be able to identify hub leader volunteers in these areas,” Mikels said. “As our world begins to open again as pandemic restrictions lessen, our hub leaders will be able to host in-person, local networking events. Our alumni team looks forward to traveling and hopes to visit many of our hub areas by summer 2022.”
Virtual tasting event
Alumnus Travis Heneveld (’97 MIBS French track) facilitated a virtual beer tasting for international alumni
living in France and Germany in December 2020.
“Since graduating from MIBS, I have actively participated in the USC alumni network, having attended several reunions across Europe and even organized reunions in Paris, France, in 1999 to celebrate 25 years of MIBS, and Berlin, Germany, in 2010,” he said. “I always enjoy connecting with fellow alumni wherever I may be.”
As a host for the December virtual beer tasting, Heneveld is one of a handful of investors who supported the opening in 2018 of Vagabund brewery in a former lightbulb factory in the center of Berlin, Germany.
Heneveld has 25 years’ experience in wireless technology markets, including with Motorola, Ericcson, Vodafone, Nestle, IKEA and the United Nations family of organizations.