Connecting Our Global Alumni Community
December 13, 2023
Dear Members of the P&G Alumni Network,
Chairman’s Note—For many years, it has been our tradition to provide our Advisory Board and the membership as a whole with an end-of-year letter describing the state of the Network. A couple of years ago, we decided to create the Annual Impact Report with stories, pictures, and updates about the Foundations’ key activities during the calendar year which was sent out last month. This letter returns to our more personal approach to updating the Network itself.
The year 2023 finds the Network and our Foundation to be very healthy and vibrant. We successfully executed the 2023 Global Conference held in Washington, DC in November with the final attendance of about 400 members, consistent with past events. We owe a great debt of gratitude to a large number of folks, led by Gina Lam, Board Member and Executive Producer of the event. The feedback has been very positive, but we also have opportunities to continue to improve.
For the first time in our history, we had all five living CEOs in attendance—Jon, David, AG, and Bob—in person, and JEP with us remotely due to some health issues. Additionally, we were privileged to have several of the Company’s most senior officers on hand to speak to their areas of expertise.
Financially, the event itself fell short of our targets, largely because the expenses of any Washington DC event have jumped significantly since we originally selected that city in 2019 and contracted in 2020 just before COVID. However, we have adjusted our revenue development model and anticipate that we will cover the shortfall by the end of 2024. Rest assured that our conservative approach to financials has the Network and the Foundation on firm financial footing with several years of buffer in place.
Plans are already underway for our next global conference in Berlin in the Spring of 2025.
Board elections for eight of our Network seats are now underway with the new board to be announced in early in the new year. Several of our incumbent members are seeking re-election but the election is open to all alumni registered on the Network website.
Throughout the year, we continued to expand our offerings, adding them to our existing enrichment programs, and dramatically improving our communications tools and processes—all to serve our members better:
- We launched a new website with greater capabilities.
- Our “Learnings from Leaders” podcast continues to grow its audience.
- Our webinar series as well as our Spanish webinar series continue to secure great speakers.
- Our Coaching Program—designed and managed by our Women’s Leadership Forum—expanded out of the test and continues to receive very positive feedback.
- Our Peer-to-Peer leadership teams—CEOs, CMOs, C-Level Women—in >$1B companies continue to gain traction and were an integral part of the global conference. We are exploring groups for CIOs, CFOs, and others.
- Our entrepreneur Business Catapult program has been revised to provide opportunities to alumni entrepreneurs, coaches, and investors – with a financial benefit for the Network.
- Our Younger Alumni efforts are being bolstered by the addition of several younger alumni to the Board.
- We executed a new event at the Conference dedicated to our Black Alumni with the objective of better serving this community.
- We are in the process of expanding a program with the Company’s Contract Talent group which wants to hire alumni as contract employees given our understanding of the business and the values of Procter & Gamble. This is initially a US-based program, but the intention is to expand internationally to countries based on local labor laws.
- We continued to add and build our chapter organization and had several chapter leaders in attendance at the Conference.
- As can be seen in the Alumni Foundation Impact Report, our Foundation had a banner year in terms of both fundraising and grants, dramatically increasing our impact against the objective of economic empowerment around the world.
If you will allow me a moment of reflection beyond the reporting of performance and plans. I’d like to say something about our alumni… our friends. With the world continuing to face significant issues, I hear stories from our alumni who have been helped by fellow alumni and about alumni who continue to be a source of strength for one another. The Network was founded to help our alumni easily connect or re-connect for personal or business reasons. I didn’t anticipate how much more meaningful it has become.
As we complete our 23rd year, I am pleased to report that the Network and the Foundation are healthy and thriving—and it’s all thanks to you. From our families to yours, our sincere wish for 2024 Peace On Earth and Goodwill toward Everyone.
Ed Tazzia, Chairman
As the year draws to a close, we find ourselves reflecting on the incredible journey we’ve shared. It’s been a year filled with immense gratitude for the unwavering support of our community. The P&G Alumni Foundation wants to thank YOU.
Thank you for being the heartbeat of our Foundation. Your contributions have made dreams achievable, futures brighter, and communities stronger.
TOGETHER, alums combine to be a force for good multiplier and change lives!
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Dan Hamilton was a longtime friend and mentor to many. He was an experienced marketing, media, and creative leader who passed away suddenly last December of 2022. This is the second of two conversations with friends and colleagues who knew Dan—this one with two fellow P&G Digital Alums: Bob Arnold, now a Media Innovation leader at Google, and Aaron Fetters, now CEO of Transparent Partners.
Dan Hamilton was a dreamer, a mentor, and someone who had a passion for coloring outside the lines and breaking all the rules while bringing us along for the ride. Dan was a bandmate, a father, and a friend. He was born in Seattle in 1969 to Valerie and Vernon “Bud” Hamilton. Bud is a fellow P&G Alum who retired after 37 years as a VP in Sales, Marketing, and Governance, and one of the reasons Dan came to P&G. Dan grew up in Cincinnati later studied journalism and jazz guitar at the University of Cincinnati and CCM, he co-founded the band Spookfloaters, which he toured with, then went back get his Masters of Computer Science from Miami of Ohio, after which he joined P&G as one of the earliest digital marketing managers, starting in the beauty business on Olay. Dan quickly changed the game in digital, rising to become the media leader of Olay, arguably one of P&G’s most innovative brands in marketing and media during Dan’s tenure. Over nearly 15 years Dan worked across Olay digital, Olay media, Olay design, P&G’s corporate brand, and personal care. Dan spent another seven years in Colorado as a marketing, media, and creative leader at WhiteWave Foods, which later merged with Danone. In 2021 he joined Ocean Spray as the company’s Head of Marketing Center of Excellence.
Throughout his entire career, Dan was a friend and mentor to the many who had the privilege of working with him. He was always one of the Alums we wanted to reconnect with on this Learnings from Leaders podcast, but we regret missing our chance. So, to capture some of the “Learnings from Dan,” we wanted to share a few stories from those who knew him well.
Got a Dan story? Please send an email or voice memo to pgalumpod@gmail.com. We’d love to hear it and share it with the many friends and family who survived him.
We know you’ll enjoy this candid conversation about our good friend, Dan.