Celebrating our international alumni ambassadors
As a university, we are exceptionally lucky to have international alumni from across the globe stay in touch with us and offer their time to support university initiatives. This year alone international volunteers have organised and hosted events, spoken as part of panels, met prospective students and University of Liverpool staff, and provided case studies for current students.
We would like to take the opportunity this National Volunteers' Week to thank all our international volunteers for giving their time, you have such a huge impact on the university community and allow us to be a truly global university!
Beijing alumni and prospective student event, 2024
One opportunity that we offer to international alumni is to become Alumni Ambassadors. This role involves growing a local network, organising events, and helping alumni in their community to maintain a lifelong connection with the University. We currently have around 35 alumni ambassadors who have helped develop 25 international networks in countries including China, Malaysia, Singapore, UAE, USA, Germany, Switzerland, Nigeria, and India. This year we have had new alumni-led networks establish themselves in France, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Saudi Arabia.
It has been an exciting year for international volunteering with new alumni-led networks being established in France, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Saudi Arabia. This May has also seen the first University of Liverpool Around the World event series take place following on from the success of last year’s ULMS around the world series, with over 10 events taking place in places such as Switzerland, Nigeria (3 events), Portugal, Canada and Saudi Arabia. These events have all been led by volunteers with nearly 500 graduates registering in total.
A collection of photos from Nigerian network events, 2023/24
Two of our international alumni have spoken to us about their experience of being an alumni ambassador and what advice they would offer to anyone interested in the opportunity.
Falguni Sehon-Tawadia (MBA 2006) is one of the alumni ambassadors that manages our Germany network. Badry Bawady (2005) is the alumni ambassador for our UAE network.
What inspired you to become an alumni ambassador?
Falguni: Getting to know other alumni, expanding my network & horizon, and learning from others.
Badry: I was inspired by Taryn Rock (previous UoL staff), a refined lady who used to help the alumni in UAE. She was very enthusiastic and active in organizing events and supporting all newcomers to the country. She approached me right after my graduation in 2005 to do the same and I have been happy to volunteer for several years thereafter.
Falguni with the Germany network at their most recent event in Zurich, 2024
Can you share a memorable experience or moment from your time volunteering with us?
Falguni: To pick one is challenging, I have many. Meeting new people is always exciting but meeting them again is a sincere pleasure. This happened to me during our last alumni event. Chatting about the ‘then’ i.e. our time spent studying in UoL and the experiences attached to it brings up pleasant memories. Since I have had the support of the International Alumni Engagement Officer (Andy), things have become much easier. For example, I do not have to worry about keeping up with GDPR rules. This is taken care of by UoL. With Andy’s help, managing the planning of an event is a ‘walk in a park’. I can share and discuss my ideas with Andy and choose the best option for us all.
Badry: One of my unforgettable experiences was when we celebrated the knighthood of the late and honourable alum Sir Maurice Flanagan (1950) for his contribution to the UAE and Britain. Maurice has spent decades in Dubai establishing Danata and then Emirates Airlines. Whatever you give is little compared to what such giants gave to the UAE and its people.
What skills or lessons have you gained through your volunteer experience?
Falguni: Humbleness and diversity, getting to know different personalities, learning different opinions and points of view, having discussions on topics that I know, but also others that are not my focus topics/that I do not deal with every day. Patience and accepting the fact that most of the time it is difficult to make everyone happy. For example, when you ask for registrations to a chapter-event, many do register but only 20-30% of them eventually attend the event maybe because the chosen event location is not the nearest.
Badry: We have helped students or alumni on several occasions, some of whom were new in UAE or passing by the country. You must be extremely patient, tolerant of different mindsets and ready to sacrifice time and energy until people are content with the results they want to achieve.
What advice would you give to someone considering becoming an alumni ambassador?
Falguni: Do not be demotivated with challenges like registrations vs. low attendance ratio. Getting to know the alumni you meet is still a great feeling. Think of what could be meaningful/what is going to be the best for the alumni. No doubt, it is always good to network, but it is even better to enrich alumni activities by focusing on “what is in it for the alumni/what can we all take away from the interactions?” For our chapter, we usually combine an alumni meeting/dinner with a tour, be it a city or a museum tour as this is how you get to know different areas. You can be a meaningful catalyst in helping the alumni increase their network. I remember the people I meet, and what skills/professions they have. This way I can help the alumni connect with each other. As an ambassador, you can always count on the professional support from the International Alumni Engagement Officer. You are not alone on this journey, someone professional will always be there to walk with you.
Badry: It is a wonderful thing to do especially if you have some supportive alumni helping you and smart people like Andy Harrison from the university always on your side. You must be persistent in keeping things going and be ready to allocate time within your busy schedule. The feeling that you are doing something in return to your university is a great reward by itself.
Thank you to both Falguni and Badry for sharing your experience and for being such great advocates and volunteers for the University of Liverpool.
Interested in becoming an international alumni ambassador? For more information on our international alumni networks and how you can volunteer from overseas please contact our International Alumni Engagement Officer, Andy Harrison, andy.harrison@liverpool.ac.uk.
Keep up with how we are marking this year’s National Volunteers’ Week celebrations on Facebook, X, Instagram and LinkedIn via the University of Liverpool page.