Courtesy of Kristin Urquiza

NEW YORK CITY – On Friday, the Yale Alumni Nonprofit Alliance held its 2024 Social Impact Conference and Generation-to-Generation Awards Luncheon at the Yale Club in New York City. 

YANA is a network of Yale alumni working in the social impact sector founded in 2011 by nine Yalies who were searching for support in shifting from the private sector to public service. Today, the organization is composed of over 9,000 alumni engaged in social impact work across the globe. Over 200 YANA members and their guests attended the gala on Friday evening, which featured workshops in social advocacy, financial stability and impact optimization strategies hosted by Yale social entrepreneurs, and marked the group’s second full in-person event since 2017. 

“We feel that the world’s poor are the responsibility of the world’s rich. Those of us who are fortunate enough to have a Yale education, how can we give back?” Ken Inadomi ’76, who founded the Yale Alumni Nonprofit Alliance, told the News. “YANA started from a need to learn from others, convene and share best practices. Nonprofit work can be exhilarating but exhausting. Having a safe environment of people whom you know and are connected through the Yale experience — there’s a built-in degree of trust there that’s an important pillar we are built on.” 

The gala’s Keynote speaker was Bishop William Barber II, the founding director of and a professor at the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School, who spoke about the responsibility of uplifting those in poverty and of recognizing and holding accountable those with power. 

“If you have the greatest healthcare system in the country, it is the moral responsibility of that greatness to make sure everyone has it. If we have the greatest Gross Domestic Product, what is the moral responsibility of that?” he asked the audience. “What if the hundred and million poor get together and unite with Yale graduates, moral and religious leaders, and the wealthy folk and the conscious? We in fact have the power to shift this democracy.” 

Introduced by former University President Peter Salovey, the organization also honored three alumni for their exemplification of YANA’s mission in generating positive social impact. The honorees included Hilary Pennington ’77 SOM ’83, executive vice president of global programs at the Ford Foundation; Demetris Giannoulias ’94, CEO of Spring Bank; and Caroline Tanbee Smith ’14, co-founder of Collab and the Ward 9 alder on New Haven’s Board of Alders. 

Among those in attendance was Thomas McKee ’26, one of co-leaders of the YANA Student Chapter along with Benjamin Hernandez ’26 – a former staff reporter for the News – and Andrey Sokolov ’27. The chapter is a recent area of growth of the organization and seeks to emphasize the intergenerational aspect of non-profit building. Launched this past summer, the team plans to offer speaker events featuring experienced Yalies in the social impact sector as well as networking opportunities with Yale alumni tailored to undergraduate needs. 

“After we learned that two-thirds of Yale students are involved with Dwight Hall in some form, we wanted to make YANA more accessible to undergraduates,” said McKee. 

McKee also noted that he’s noticed a growing number of undergraduates who express interest in or have established their own nonprofits dedicated to causes they’re passionate about. Benjamin Barkoff ’27, who founded Whiskey Bravo, an organization that teaches students the importance of the U.S. military, is one such student who was also present at the gala. 

Other recent initiatives include the Yale Nonprofit Mentorship Program, led by Rachel Littman ’91 with support from Kristin Urquiza ’03, who serves as executive director of YANA. The program was launched in its newest form this past summer and offers pro-bono consulting services by connecting nonprofits with Yale alumni specializing in the needs of the organization. 

Urquiza, who founded Marked by Covid, a survivor-led organization dedicated to pandemic remembrance and recovery, was formerly on the receiving end of the services of the YANA network herself. 

“YANA was a resource that I could turn to and trust for high-quality information, connections and ideas when I was first getting started,” Urquiza said. “Nonprofit work is incredibly important, but there aren’t a lot of resources out there on how to do it and how to do it well. We’re able to provide that for the Yale community through not just service providers and strategy consultants, but a community of folks that are tried and true to trust.” 

Urquiza emphasized the importance of spaces to gather like the YANA conference, particularly those where discussion is focused solely on socially-minded issues. 

She also noted that oftentimes in social impact work where change is made incrementally, it can be easy to have “your nose to the grind” and lose sight of the milestones accomplished; spaces like these events allow the community to celebrate one another and their achievements in the journey. 

“I think everyone walked away from the conference feeling inspired, supported, and a deeper connection to their community. I really feel like people come to our conference or one of our events and walk away feeling like yeah, I found my people,” said Urquiza. “That’s so valuable in today’s world where it can often feel very divided, and in addressing the big issues that we care about in the world today.” 

The Yale Club in New York City is located at 50 Vanderbilt Ave., New York.

CLAIRE NAM