Re-Engaging a National Alumni Network Through Meaningful Experiences
How a youth entrepreneurship organization extended its relationship with students beyond the classroom.
Client profile
- Founded in 1987 and headquartered in New York City, with local offices across the United States.
- Serves young people from low-income communities by helping them stay in school, recognize business opportunities and plan successful futures.
- Operates programs in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
- At the time of the engagement, employed 70 people and managed a $13 million annual operating budget.
- Changed its name to Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship in 2009.
- Serves nearly 500,000 young people globally.
About the project
The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship had built a large, international community of young people around entrepreneurship education. Yet the organization's relationship with many alumni weakened once formal programming ended. NFTE wanted to strengthen engagement with its growing network and reinforce that participation in the mission did not have to end at graduation.
The challenge
- Limited connection with alumni after program completion.
- No consistent mechanism for sustaining engagement over time.
- The risk of losing long-term impact and community value beyond the initial program experience.
The organization needed a credible reason for alumni to reconnect and a format that felt relevant, energizing and true to the ambitions of the young people it served.
Reignite alumni connection to NFTE's mission through memorable experiences that reinforced ambition, entrepreneurship, community and the value of staying engaged.
The process
- Start with the relationship, not the event. InnerLeaf Communications framed the initiative around the experience NFTE wanted alumni to have and the long-term connection it hoped to rebuild.
- Translate the mission into an experience concept. The Leaders of Tomorrow Pep Rally Series created an energetic format that celebrated participants while reinforcing NFTE's core messages.
- Build cultural relevance into the engagement. Artist partnerships and recognizable cultural elements helped the experience feel current, credible and connected to the audience.
- Use tangible moments to reinforce the message. Live interactions, shared activities and memorable elements gave students, teachers and administrators multiple ways to experience the mission together.
The solution
InnerLeaf Communications developed the Leaders of Tomorrow Pep Rally Series as a strategic stakeholder-engagement platform. The initiative combined event design, cultural relevance and tangible engagement elements to make the mission visible, participatory and memorable. Each experience was designed to generate excitement while inviting alumni and the broader school community back into an ongoing relationship with NFTE.
What was delivered
- A mission-aligned engagement concept for alumni and school communities.
- High-energy pep rally experiences built around entrepreneurship and possibility.
- Artist partnerships and culturally relevant program elements.
- Tangible engagement moments that reinforced NFTE's messages and community identity.
The result
The initiative increased engagement with NFTE's alumni platform, strengthened connections between students and the organization and created a shared experience that reinforced NFTE's mission. Students, teachers and administrators responded positively, and the program helped renew interest in continued participation.
Why it mattered
The work extended NFTE's impact beyond the classroom. It helped transform a one-time program experience into an ongoing relationship, strengthening long-term engagement and reinforcing that alumni remained part of the organization's mission and community.