The Faculty of Environment has always been about people. The ethos of caring that characterizes the Faculty lives on in our alumni through their impact on global sustainability and investment in our students. Many and diverse, with over 17000 individuals in 89 countries, invested alumni create incredible opportunities for the next generation of students. They are a global gift that keeps on giving.
ENV Connect
Through the pandemic, economies have shrunk, unemployment has increased and the need for strong networks has never been greater. Enter ENV Connect. This intentional networking tool allows students and alumni to network, connect, and build relationships. With over 1200 participants, the platform has fostered more than 4000 introductions and over 1300 connections. Real people with real world experiences are able to mentor, encourage, and make career-changing connections. The tool features customizable parameters to ensure relevant and meaningful connections. The results speak for themselves – here’s what participants on both sides have shared:
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Student: S. was awesome to talk to; easy going, understanding, and charismatic! We had similar interests and she was extremely helpful in providing future career advice and career opportunities, including offering her own connections. My conversation with S. has encouraged me to pursue a career that I was initially intimidated about.
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Alumni: I have found real benefit from all of the network connections that I have made. In the instance with A., it was interesting to learn once again what a small world it is through hearing that her father and I used to work together in the same field. Hoping as well that we may have a short-term volunteer job that will help her get her start in her career.
Real benefits. Passion and support. Meaningful connections and inspiring options.
Alumni Office Hours
Beyond ENV Connect, Environment students gain broader and wider insights into careers and industry realities through Alumni Office Hours. This online event series grow student-alumni networks, allowing students to engage professional skills, ask questions and expand their awareness of life after school. For alumni, it’s an opportunity to give back in a meaningful way, share what they’ve learned and help support the next generation of change-makers.
Each event is driven by the real-world, lived experience of alumni and draws hundreds of students each term who are eager to learn.
Class Champions
The connections Environment students make with their classmates often last a lifetime. The Class Champions program was created to support alumni volunteers to act as official class representatives. These community pillars help plan and promote their milestone class reunion, encouraging classmates to return to campus to reunite, relive fond memories, and reconnect with the faculty they once called home.
These classes have come together for themselves, and their own edification, but also some also give back to the faculty that formed them. In the past few years, three classes have collectively raised over $50,000 to establish three separate scholarships for incoming students and student leaders. One in particular is in memory of a classmate. Another supports Black and Indigenous students. All three have reached their fundraising goals. They are leaving a lasting class legacy and supporting the success of bright young minds with big dreams.
Together.
These tangible, in-person connections build a bridge between current students eager to have a positive impact and former students with real-world experience and resources to share. Each new connection plants a seed that will bear fruit long into the future. It’s a beautiful testament to the engaged, caring, inspiring and invested people who make up the Environment community and a foundational part of building a sustainable future, together.
