Your Alumni Board
Members of the board are elected by the alumni and meet throughout the year to establish, in collaboration with the dean and UC San Diego Alumni, the goals and objectives for the school. The board assists the staff in the implementation of programs for more than 3,000 alumni worldwide annually.
Alumni Board President Message
Dear Fellow GPS Alumni,
It is a privilege to serve as the GPS Alumni Board president for the 2021-2022 academic year. The GPS Alumni Board is the strongest it has ever been, with 14 returning members continuing their dedicated service: Helio Bertachini, Dennis-Michael Broussard, Darcy Cook, Gwendolyn Guzman Rose, Ziwen Han, Jason Kim, Peter Moritzburke, Greta-Paa Kerner, Liliana Pao, Jamal Russell Black, Victor Tineo, Kevin Trepa and King Tsao. We welcomed two new members in July who have already impressed us with their strong efforts to advance the school: Chenyu (Isabelle) Ho ’07 and David Noel ’14.
It was a delight to see many of you virtually at the October online reunion, where our new Dean Caroline Freund answered your questions, and Jay Hanson ’96 and Lisa Sterner Hanson ’96 were both recognized as Outstanding Alumni of the Year.
The board is taking on a number of initiatives this year, including:
- Volunteering with GPS Career Services to help current students practice mock interviews for jobs and internships in January and with GPS Admissions to answer questions from admitted students in March; both of these opportunities are open to any interested alumnus – please contact the school or any board member if you are interested in joining such initiatives.
- Continuing fundraising efforts with a focus on funding student summer internships that will culminate in a Day of Caring donation drive in May.
- Helping raise the profile of the school through communications and social media channels.
- Liaising with a number of stakeholders: the Graduate Organization of GPS, the faculty, GPS Career Services, and the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Fellows.
There will be significant turnover of the GPS Alumni Board in summer 2022, and so we will be looking for diverse new members with a track record of service to the school, especially Master of Public Policy (MPP) degree program alumni (who are not yet represented on the board). The nomination period will open in June.
The increased use of online tools during the coronavirus pandemic has opened the doors of opportunity for increased alumni engagement with GPS, as well as with wider UC San Diego campus resources. Internally, the board is currently soliciting ideas for topics of interest to alumni for our next two webinars, following on the success of last year’s introduction of this series. We also encourage all GPS alumni to sign up to receive the school newsletter, take advantage of the Triton Table Talks career development series, join virtual events put on by the many academic centers affiliated with GPS, consider UC San Diego Extension courses, and join the GPS LinkedIn group and UC San Diego’s Tritons Connect to remain aware of the many ways our school can continue to serve you long after graduation.
Furthermore, I urge all GPS alumni to reach out to any GPS Alumni Board member with new ideas or requests for how the board can better provide value to you, our alumni community. Our primary goal is to ensure that your relationship with GPS does not end after graduation, but that you continue to view the school as a lifelong resource that helps with your career progressions and transitions, quenches your interest in global policy issues and keeps you in touch with old friends and mentors who share similar passions.
The GPS Alumni Board continues to look for ways to benefit our alumni community, and we welcome your ideas.
Sincerely,
Jessica Megill
GPS Alumni Board President, MPIA ’10