Young Alumni Lead By Example

As Penn undergraduates, Julie Perilstein, C'08, and Lex Ruby Howe, C'07, both made their mark. Active student leaders, they recognized the value of becoming deeply involved with Penn from the start, ultimately laying a strong foundation for a lifetime of engagement. "Leadership enriched my time at Penn," says Lex. Julie agrees, "When you're an involved student the stakes are raised because you [come to] understand the impact your engagement has on the students, faculty, and staff around you, and on the university as a whole."

Looking to continue their activity in the Penn community as alumni, Julie and Lex developed the Penn Young Alumni Leadership Council (YALC). Their goal? To help other young alumni leaders emerge -- young women and men who do their part to develop an even stronger Penn for tomorrow. "This will truly become a winning cycle for change with each involved generation," explains Lex.

A daughter of Penn, Julie saw firsthand her parents' (Jayne Davis Perilstein, W'80, and Ronald Perilstein, W'80) contribution to their local Secondary School Committee and her mother's commitment to the Trustees' Council of Penn Women (TCPW). This sparked her own interest in taking a leading role as a student. She developed Linking Legacies, a mentorship program pairing current Penn legacy students with incoming legacy students. Lex helped Julie identify students for the program, and the two quickly realized how much they had in common -- starting with the fact that they both wanted an enriched alumni volunteer life with Penn.

They sought to develop a stronger connection between current student leaders and the young alumni community but did not see an existing pathway; they decided to create their own. Looking at groups like TCPW -- an organization committed to mentorship and networking opportunities for its members -- they thought they could adapt a similar philosophy to address young alumni looking for significant engagement after graduation.

Striving to educate current students about how to become good alumni is a labor of love for Lex and Julie. "No one really teaches you what to do when you graduate or how to stay connected," says Julie, who finished her days as an undergrad just months ago. "I wish I had someone a couple years older who could say ‘This is how you can make your alumni experience meaningful.'"

The YALC officially launched with a kick-off brunch during Homecoming Weekend, and is already off to a great start. Brainstorming sessions are underway for upcoming seminars, social events, career coaching, and peer mentoring, all with a focus on maintaining ties to Penn and connecting student leaders to knowledgeable alumni and to each other.

Currently in its recruiting phase, Lex and Julie see the YALC as an opportunity to develop a pipeline for alumni leaders. They are looking for "people with a palpable passion for Penn," says Lex. "The young alumni community is not a homogenous community and we want to serve all of them."

Email penn.young.alumni@gmail.com to join in, and make your own piece of Penn history.

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