Spotlight: Founding members of YAAB leave behind a legacy of engagement and growth

One of the consequences of a rapidly growing student population is that the College of Engineering’s alumni base keeps getting younger. Currently, 36.2 percent of all alumni of the College graduated in the last 15 years. In 2018, the Young Alumni Advisory Board (YAAB) was started to engage this group and help them feel connected to their alma mater and each other. The original class of the board included just 12 members and has since grown to 31 members, including five who were added last fall.

Now, those original members’ terms are coming to an end, and they can look back on what they have accomplished in just four years.

Jon Gomes, mechanical engineering ‘10, ‘11, a Raleigh native who still lives in the area, now works for NuScale Power designing small modular reactors. He is proud of the way YAAB grew and found its purpose.

If I had to pick one, probably all of the overly enthusiastic late-night Rock Band sessions we had in our dorm rooms.”

Jon Gomes

“Honestly, at first, our end goals appeared a bit nebulous,” Gomes said. “But after a few meetings and some constructive dialogues, we were able to transform our ideas into actions. Soon, we started achieving meaningful results, from getting engineering alumni to attend homecoming events to maximizing our participation for Day of Giving. If you attend a board meeting now, you’ll see that it runs like a well-oiled machine.”

Their impact on their fellow young alumni has measurable results. Beth Quinn, civil engineering ‘06, ‘08, ‘11, said that this is due in part to changing perceptions of philanthropy.

“Sometimes as young alumni, being asked to donate to the University can be overwhelming a year or two into your career,” Quinn said. “I think that Day of Giving has become a way to connect with other alumni and students through the challenges during the day and that has gotten the younger people more involved. Young alumni and students can give directly to departments or organizations within the University that directly impacted their lives.”

During my senior year, our concrete canoe team finally beat Clemson at the American Society of Civil Engineers Regional competition to take first place. The department hosted an ice cream social to congratulate them. It built a lot of camaraderie between the students.”

Beth Quinn

As the board members leave, they are looking forward to how they can continue to be involved. Quinn, who lives in Cary and works for the Department of Transportation in the engineering development squad, is already signed up to volunteer for this year’s First-Year Engineering Design Day.

Gomes is looking forward to watching the board continue to evolve and meet new challenges over the coming years.

“Whenever I’m talking with engineering students these days, I’m pleased to see a lot more diversity and varying interests compared to 15 years ago,” said Gomes. “Of course, today’s students will become tomorrow’s young alumni. It’s imperative to recognize that so the College can sustain its connections with young alumni as that population continues to grow, both in size and in diversity.”