May 2022
Due to COVID-19 and its impact, the Teach For Nepal Alumni Community had not had a chance to meet in person for a long time. It seemed that this led to several questions and concerns of Alumni that emerged due to various factors not limited to the communication gap and lack of opportunity to interact. While there were some concerns received informally expressing such concerns, TFN in support of the Teach For Nepal Alumni Association (TFNAA) decided to hold a meeting of all Alumni where all the community members would have a chance not only to meet as community members but also would have the opportunity to openly share and discuss their queries and concerns.
Therefore, on 7th May 2022, all TFN Alumni were invited to Yalamaya Kendra, Dhokaima Café, Lalitpur for a community meeting from 1:00 PM onwards which went until 3:45 PM followed by Hi-Tea. In total, 56 Alumni joined the meeting (49 in person and 7 virtually). The CEO of Teach For Nepal, Swastika Shrestha, TFN Board Representative Dr. Amina Singh, and 5 staff members were also present in the meeting. The meeting started with an Alumni introduction and updates followed by a quick sharing in pairs about what made them prioritize this gathering over other commitments, how the alumni had, and what were the burning questions that they might have been looking answers for to regarding Alumni Community and Alumni Movement. For the most part of the meeting, Alumni shared their individual concerns, questions, or suggestions for TFN Alumni Movement, TFN Alumni Unit, and TFNAA.
The queries and concerns of the Alumni were shared in the presence of a panel comprising TFN CEO, Swastika Shrestha, TFN Board Member Amina Singh, TFNAA President Sristi Shrestha, and Former TFNAA President Jalan Maharjan.
Some concerns of the Alumni were addressed by the panel members while others were documented for follow-up and actions in the future. Active participation and engagement of Alumni resulted in many questions; potentially not all of them could be answered or addressed immediately within the limited time available for the meeting. However, the enthusiasm shown by the Alumni for regular meetings like this to discuss, resolve and pave a path forward for the Alumni Movement led to a positive conclusion of the Alumni Community Meeting, the first of its kind.
TFN and TFNAA are both committed to addressing the concerns and queries of Alumni, listening actively, and acting on the feedback and suggestions as feasible in their efforts to strengthen the Alumni Community to reach the vision of the Alumni Movement as defined in the larger theory of change of TFN.