Marie Gill is the community leader of the Flourishing at Work Network and the Co-founder of Florens – A Flourishing Collective. Marie also founded the Green Apron Alliance, Starbucks’ corporate alumni program. Florens – A Flourishing Collective helps organizations collect data to assess organizational health and well-being when it comes to employees and culture. In this episode, Simone and Marie zoom in on the complexities of creating caring cultures in organizations. They identify characteristics of the leaders of the future; Talk about the role employers play when it comes to wellbeing of their team members; Look at how data is a key driver for building caring cultures; And focus in on how little things help people flourish in all aspects of their lives. Listen in to LEARN ABOUT CONNECTIONS THAT HELP YOU THRIVE.

This concludes “Insider Insights,” the second season of the Building Community Podcast. In this episode, your host Simone reflects on five takeaways from this season. These look at the Team4Life™ approach, which emphasizes that organizations … … get to know people as people … create moments that matter … use technology to improve experiences … don’t re-invent the wheel … offer community for all Listen in for more on the numerous benefits organizations can take away from actively building community for their current and former teams. And subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you enjoy your listen – so you will be first to know when the next season airs. Thanks for being along for the ride! As you work to MAKE YOUR COMMUNITIES THRIVE.

Jana Panfilio is the Co-founder and President of 6453 Alumni, an alumni-founded network of former Nike employees and former Nike-sponsored athletes. 6453 Alumni was established to connect its members, offer personal and professional enrichment, and expand member impact on the world. Jana focuses on creating a vital, diverse, and inclusive global network and community. She is a Marketer, a Creator, a Collaborator, and a Champion for Human Potential. In this episode, Jana shares what it takes to start an alumni network without the formal backing of an organization. And she lets us in on some of the roadblocks they have overcome along the way. Listen in to MAKE YOUR COMMUNITIES THRIVE.

Gaurabh Mathure is the Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Tydy, an all-in-one platform that delivers tailored employee experiences to organizations and teams across the globe. Tydy’s goal is to envision, design, and craft meaningful on and offboarding experiences based on employee data. In this episode, we’ll learn how technology can facilitate improved HR efforts that ultimately result in more authentic and positive employee experiences. Gaurabh also talks about the three things that will help organizations scale their HR efforts and he points out the role of “employee experience designers” in innovative organizations. Listen in to MAKE YOUR COMMUNITIES THRIVE.

Alicia M. Hernríquez is Head of People at Liveblocks and a Founding Member at Troop HR. Liveblocks is a seed-stage startup that was founded in 2021. Alicia’s role is to build the foundation of the people function and help cultivate culture from the ground up. In this episode, Alicia speaks about how People Operations Leaders and HR teams can best support employees while at the same time positively shaping corporate culture; And how executive leadership can impact teams through targeted encouragement. Today, it is more critical than ever that organizations invest in their people and offer innovative development opportunities. – Join Alicia and Simone in this episode to find out why, and how. Listen in to MAKE YOUR COMMUNITIES THRIVE.

Carolene Méli is an experience strategist who specializes in bringing teams together through in-person experiences. Carolene is the founder of Brands of the Med Business Community, a business community that supports, develops, and connects small business owners based in the Mediterranean. In this episode, Carolene shares her knowledge and best practices for creating exceptional team experiences. These are essential in today’s corporate world, where remote work often blurs the lines when it comes to employees being seen and valued, and expectations being communicated. And then Carolene and Simone chat about the four key elements that make up every single experience worthy of the term “incredible”. Listen in to MAKE YOUR COMMUNITIES THRIVE.

Jon Picoult is the Founder and Principal of Watermark Consulting, a boutique consulting company, specializing in customer experience improvement services. Jon helps companies impress customers and inspire employees. In this episode, Jon and Simone dive into customer experience design principles for employee and alumni audiences. They also discuss ways companies can encourage loyalty and cultivate engagement among their customers and employees. – It’s the simple touches that prove to have the most impact. Listen in to MAKE YOUR COMMUNITIES THRIVE.

Randal Weidenaar is an organizational culture researcher and Founder and CEO of VP Culture. He specializes in helping organizations become people-focused. Additionally, he supports them with building thriving organizations by focusing on the connections that are so core to every human. In this episode, Randal shares his knowledge about how organizational leaders can intentionally create a corporate culture that leads to employee satisfaction. He also shines the light on several aspects leaders can utilize to best support their teams. And we’ll learn about a secret nugget in this conversation – the ONE thing that motivates all people and cultures. Listen in to MAKE YOUR COMMUNITIES THRIVE.

Celina Guerrero is the founder of Tessellate Partners, LLC and an Entrepreneur and Sales and LinkedIn Coach for service-based businesses and consultancies. Celina supports clients with building relationships that build businesses. In this episode, Celina and Simone dig deep into Community and Social Selling parallels and talk about the many similarities between community-building strategy and sales strategy. They emphasize the importance of listening to and understanding the wants and needs of your community while focusing on one-on-one connection and building trust. - These are essential for community building AND today’s sales strategies. Listen in to MAKE YOUR COMMUNITIES THRIVE.

Jared Narlock is a Leadership Development Speaker and Coach at Peaceful Powered Leadership LLC. There, he focuses on helping leaders find peace in pursuit of courageous leadership while building trust with their teams. In this episode, we’ll assess the role that leadership and employee relations have when it comes to today’s corporate successes and failures. And we look at approaches that can help reduce employee turnover, as more people are working remotely today. Jared shares different angles that leaders can deploy to best support team members leaving the organization, without letting personal feelings get in the way. This is what putting your team members first truly means in everyday life. Listen in to MAKE YOUR COMMUNITIES THRIVE.

Anna Moreno Damico is the Global Senior Manager of Alumni Strategy & Engagement at BCG, Boston Consulting Group. In that role, she is responsible for the alumni strategy of the BCG Global Alumni Network. The BCG Global Alumni Network was started in 2000 and today counts over 33,000 alumni throughout the world who, as BCG says, “all have green blood ;)”. Their members enjoy the development and learning opportunities offered through the BCG alumni community. In this episode, we zoom in on the BCG as a best-practice model for corporate alumni networks. And Anna gives insights into her team’s role in designing programs for former colleagues and shares details about how to give and receive value in return. Listen in to MAKE YOUR COMMUNITIES THRIVE.

This concludes “Connecting with Connectors,” the inaugural season of the Building Community Podcast. In this episode, your host Simone reflects on some of the biggest questions of this season. Have we looked at corporate culture through the wrong lens in past years? Is there any community out there that’s perfect? And what value do boomerang employees really bring to organizations? Simone also shares ten valuable community lessons to wrap up this year. Listen in! And subscribe on Apple Podcast or wherever you enjoy your podcasts – so you will be first to know when the next season airs. Thanks for being along for the ride! As you work to MAKE YOUR COMMUNITIES THRIVE.

Danya Ray is the Alumni Relations Manager at Seyfarth Shaw LLP, an international law firm with 17 offices across the globe. Danya has set up alumni programs for universities, the tech industry, and law firms. And she has proved that alumni can be an organization’s biggest brand advocates, support business development, and immensely contribute to organizations as boomerang hires. In this episode, Danya shares how to go about building a corporate alumni program from scratch, and gives insight into ways to weave ‘alumni’ into an organization’s DNA. She reveals that the quality of member segmentation and targeted communication have the potential to make or break any organization’s alumni efforts. Listen in to MAKE YOUR COMMUNITIES THRIVE.

Cathryn Ramirez is the Executive Director of Alumni Development & Continuing Education at the Gemological Institute of America - GIA, a nonprofit institute dedicated to research and education in gemology and the jewelry arts. Since the 1960s, the GIA Alumni Association brings together over 155,000 alumni from across the globe, all of whom are passionate about the gem and jewelry industry. In this episode, Cathryn speaks about the importance of engaging Alumni for the education providers. It is essential to understand learners’ motivations to be loyal and know what benefits are most valuable to them. So that educational institutions can do their part to assure that there will be future generations of learners. And that brand ambassadors and advocates can help grow others’ interest in available learning opportunities through word-of-mouth. Listen in to MAKE YOUR COMMUNITIES THRIVE.

Michele Aggiato is the Head of Community at Vorwerk International, a German family business that sells household and kitchen appliances directly to consumers. Their Thermomix Community is built on members’ joint love for cooking and food. It dates back to when the first Thermomix appliance was launched back in 1971, and it currently counts over 5 million members across the globe. In this episode, Michele shares how organizations can best fulfill their customers’ needs by giving them the space and support they need to help each other, through community. And he gives insight into what motivates community members and shares how Vorwerk International works to deliver just that. Listen in to MAKE YOUR COMMUNITIES THRIVE.

Susan Tenby is the Director of Global Community at TechSoup, a nonprofit international network of non-governmental organizations that provides technical support and technological tools to other nonprofits. TechSoup has built a community of more than 1.6 million NGOs around the globe. Its TechSoup Global Network offers highly localized programs and services in 39 languages. In this episode, Susan speaks about what’s happening when your community isn’t getting any buzz, and how to best engage your users. And she shares why giving their users space for unstructured exchange benefits TechSoup and members alike. Listen in to MAKE YOUR COMMUNITIES THRIVE.

Anne Young is the Director for Community Strategy and Engagement at Salesforce.org, a cloud-based software company that builds CRM technology. Their online community is the “Power of Us Hub,” and was launched in 2013. Today, their community counts 35,000 “Trailblazers or Hubbers”. In this episode, Anne speaks about why community is and will be an essential aspect of innovative organizations. And she gives insight into how Salesforce.org engages its community members with traditional and innovative approaches. Listen in to MAKE YOUR COMMUNITIES THRIVE.

Andrea Legnani is the Global Head of Alumni Relations at Citigroup Inc., a multinational investment bank and financial services corporation. Their corporate alumni network was founded in 2011 and counts ~ 30,000 alumni. In this episode, Andrea impresses the importance of data-based decision-making for corporate alumni networks. And he gives insight into how alumni efforts at Citigroup Inc. present a huge opportunity in today’s fight for top talent. Listen in to MAKE YOUR COMMUNITIES THRIVE.

Lisa Inserra is the Senior Director for Talent Acquisition at Sodexo, a French food services and facilities management company. Their corporate alumni network’s name is “Reconnexions”. It was founded in 2008 and counts over 13,400 members. In this episode, Lisa shares how “Reconnexions” makes it possible for Sodexo to stay in touch with a huge industry-experienced talent pool. And she gives insight into the additional benefits they gain by never breaking contact with their team members. Listen in to MAKE YOUR COMMUNITIES THRIVE.

Carolyn Norton is the Head of Alumni Relations at the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Coca-Cola Company. Their alumni network was founded in 1986 and counts over 6,400 members. In this episode, Carolyn shares why every funding organization should have an alumni network. And she gives some insight into how to best go about it. Carolyn Norton is the Head of Alumni Relations at the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Coca-Cola Company. Their alumni network was founded in 1986 and counts over 6,400 members. In this episode, Carolyn shares why every funding organization should have an alumni network. And she gives some insight into how to best go about it. Listen in to MAKE YOUR COMMUNITIES THRIVE.