Category: General Updates
Connecting Our Global Alumni Community
January 18, 2024
This is the year to make bigger leaps towards your goals. Set clear intentions, not just wishful resolutions.
Whether you have a burning desire for more harmony in your work and life, need guidance to transform your leadership, or just want more personal growth—we can help. With our roster of highly experienced P&G Alumni coaches, you will have personalized help to make real progress.
Register for your Free Consult and gain access to exclusive Alumni rates. It starts by taking this first step—are you in?
Program Proudly Sponsored by the P&G Alumni Women’s Leadership Forum.
Karen Francis serves as Chairman of the Board at Vontier, a global transportation/mobility technology company, as well as on the Board at Polestar Automotive and Senior Advisor to TPG Global.
Karen made a name for herself as one of the youngest female leaders in the automotive industry, serving as General Manager of the $8 billion Oldsmobile Division of General Motors and then as Vice President of Ford Motor Company, where she was responsible for the corporate venture capital group and global technology-driven business strategies.
Karen transitioned to Silicon Valley fifteen years ago and is deeply engaged with emerging automotive technology companies. Her career has included executive positions at Procter & Gamble, Internet Capital Group, Bain & Company, Berol Corporation, and Publicis. Karen graduated from Dartmouth College, has an MBA from Harvard Business School, and is the Owner of Limerick Lane Cellars, a 53-acre estate vineyard property in Northern California.
You’ll enjoy this candid conversation about mentorship and advocacy.
Connecting Our Global Alumni Community
January 3, 2024
JOIN US
January 9, 2024
JOIN US for our first Enrichment Series Webinar of 2024: Making The Leap From Winner To Champion with James Michael Lafferty!
James, the Chief Executive Officer of Fine Hygienic Holding, has often been described as one of the most unique and diversified CEOs in the world today. Not only is he a successful CEO; he’s also an Olympic coach, award-winning journalist, college professor, competitive athlete, philanthropist, husband, father of six, and grandfather of three!
Don’t miss this incredible LIVE virtual webinar with James Michael Lafferty!
As 2023 comes to a close, we compiled some of the year’s learnings from leaders. So sit back with your beverage of choice and enjoy. And give us a gift by leaving a five-star review on Apple Podcasts! Hearing from YOU, our fellow Alum, makes a big difference for our team as we reflect on the year. THANK YOU for the continued support of our podcast and our amazing guests.
Heard something you missed? Be sure to go back and check out each guest’s full episode. Got a suggestion for a future episode? Send a note to pgalums@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you!
Connecting Our Global Alumni Community
December 20, 2023
As the opportunity to contribute draws to a close, seize this final moment to be part of something extraordinary. Your donation isn’t just a gift. It’s a beacon of hope—a catalyst for lasting empowerment.
Embrace the Power of Now! Last time to Double your Impact!
This is the last chance for the impact of your generosity to be doubled. Every dollar donated to the Alumni Foundation through the end of 2023 will be 100% MATCHED. This is possible through the generosity of a matching grant from former P&G Chairman and CEO, David Taylor. Your donation of $25 becomes $50, $100 becomes $200, $1,000 becomes $2,000, and so on up to $200,000!
DONATE TODAY AND GET MATCHED!
Your action today shapes a brighter tomorrow. Contribute now and be part of the Foundation’s impactful journey.
JOIN US
January 9, 2024
JOIN US for our first Enrichment Series Webinar of 2024: Making The Leap From Winner To Champion with James Michael Lafferty!
James the Chief Executive Officer of Fine Hygienic Holding, and has often been described as one of the most unique and diversified CEOs in the world today. Not only is he a successful CEO; he’s also an Olympic coach, award-winning journalist, college professor, competitive athlete, philanthropist, husband, father of six, and grandfather of three!
Don’t miss this incredible LIVE virtual webinar with James Michael Lafferty!
David Taylor & A.G. Lafley are two of P&G’s Emeritus CEOs who joined the recent P&G Alumni Global Conference in Washington DC for a candid conversation that goes beyond their personal stories—or even the stories of the day; to discuss their approaches to some of the broad challenges we must face together in order to meet the moment.
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.
Connecting Our Global Alumni Community
December 8, 2023
We know there are many places to make donations. Why is the P&G Alumni Foundation unique?
Here are the thoughts of John Pepper and David Taylor on why they give to the P&G Alumni Foundation:
“I’d say there are three key reasons. One is P&G people are involved, specifically involved in helping pick the right project. Pick projects that look like they can be sustainable. They look like they have the right to succeed. People who are going to be able to help guide the organization to success. We have P&G people connected with every one of these projects. Not just nominate them, which they do, but also to help them succeed. Two is the ability of P&G people to help the organization leverage the money that P&G gives. Usually, at least two to one, sometimes three to one. It all adds up.”
“Three, David mentioned polarization today, and there’s a huge decline in trust. I think we all understand and value trust. Finding a group of people and an organization we can be part of and that we trust is important for where you donate.”
Donate today to have your impact doubled! It’s with true gratitude to former P&G Chairman & CEO, David Taylor that every dollar donated to the Alumni Foundation will be 100% MATCHED through the end of 2023.
Your donation of $25 becomes $50, $100 becomes $200, $1,000 becomes $2,000, and so on up to $200,000!
Thank you for donating, creating hope, and improving lives.
Connecting Our Global Alumni Community
November 30, 2023
As alums, most of us would agree that we share a common sense of gratitude for skills learned and friends made at P&G. At the P&G Alumni Foundation, this gratitude is what drives us to pay it forward. With gratitude, we harness the power of the P&G Alumni Network to create a global force for good—giving grants and applying our collective experience to help people in need thrive economically.
From bees to biofertilizers, medical skills to micro-loans, sewing machines to student readiness, tech to transportation, and computers to micro businesses—the grants lift up hundreds of thousands of individuals and their families. While we have come a long way, there is still much to be done. For every grant we make, two are waiting for funding—that’s 5,000 people not trained and 2,000 new businesses not started this year alone.
But there is hope—and there is help.
It is with true gratitude to former P&G Chairman & CEO, David Taylor that every dollar donated to the Alumni Foundation will be 100% MATCHED through the end of 2023. Your donation of $25 becomes $50, $100 becomes $200, $1,000 becomes $2,000, and so on—up to $200,000!
DONATE TODAY AND GET MATCHED!
Join David and the P&G Alumni Foundation as we UNLEASH gratitude around the world! Thank you again, David, for this amazing gift and lovely video with fellow former P&G Chairman & CEO, John Pepper and Foundation Board Member, Ida Abdalkhani.
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Carol Fusek is a NeuroLeadership Institute brain-based coach who works with individuals, organizations, and families to help them thrive. Currently based in Singapore, Carol was P&G’s Asia’s Associate Director of Customer Service and Logistics and held various leadership roles throughout her 26-year career with P&G.
As a coach, Carol is influenced by brain science and how it can shape leaders and teams. In this candid conversation, we discuss how brain-based coaching can bring about lasting change. Carol talks about the SCARF model—which involves five domains of human social experience: Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, and Fairness—a powerful neuroscience-based model for coaching. We explore hot topics such as inclusion, psychological safety, and trust. We talk about how leaders and organizations can prepare for change and a lot more.
This is a continuation of our series with P&G Alumni Coaching where leading Alumni will dive deep into relevant topics. Just as professional athletes have a coach to help them perform at their best, coaching can help you thrive in your career and life through powerful questioning, exploration, and action planning. P&G Alums can learn more and sign up for their first free session at coaching.pgalums.com.
This is your last chance to win a global P&G “Alum-to-Alum” experience with proceeds helping alums improve lives for people in need! The P&G Alumni Foundation’s online “Alum-to-Alum” Auction is open and accepting bids until Nov 27, 6:00 pm ET.
The “Leaders Under 40 to Watch” Committee, the P&G Alumni Network Conference Committee, and the P&G Alumni Network Board extend their sincere congratulations!
Ben Chapman – Cooperative for Education Grant Champion
Cooperative for Education grant champion, Ben Chapman, explains why he championed a grant: “CoEd has had tremendous success over the past 25 years in accomplishing its mission by focusing on breaking the cycle of poverty in Guatemala through education. These are children who often are the only ones in the history of their families who have graduated from high school or even the 6th grade, changing the trajectory for their entire family.”
The $20,000 grant from the P&G Alumni Foundation has helped people like Diego. Rarely do you see someone get the opportunity to return home and give back to the community that raised them, but Diego, at age 28, is doing just that! During his studies at Hacienda María, Diego took advantage of the textbooks and computers provided by Cooperative for Education (CoEd). Today, Diego teaches technology classes in the same Computer Center where he once studied!
Steve Baggott – Breakthrough Cincinnati Grant Champion
Steve Baggott utilizes his 32 years of P&G expertise to support Breakthrough Cincinnati, an agency that energizes underrepresented aspirational students to enter college with confidence. BTC is dedicated to addressing the academic gap experienced by underrepresented local students that, when coupled with the system’s educational inequities, can limit their opportunities for college and prosperity. BTC is transforming the community to advance education, equity, and economic mobility.
The $15,000 Alumni Foundation grant has helped people like Bijin: “Breakthrough is such a positive bubble. It’s such a positive environment where everyone has a growth mindset and the belief that we can be better. I still feel the impact of Breakthrough every day when I’m here at college.”
Jim Louwsma – Partners Worldwide Grant Champion
Jim Louwsma leverages his 2+ decades of time in P&G Sales at Partners Worldwide. He is grateful for the opportunity to work with PW as it works to link small-scale, marginalized farmers to viable markets that can lift them and their families out of poverty: “It is one of the few partner organizations in the country equipping these farmers with the skills, resources, and access to local and regional markets—including major regional supermarket chains—for lasting generational emergence out of poverty.”
The $20,000 Alumni Foundation grant to Partners WW has helped people like Grace. “I am grateful to Partners Worldwide and Africa Works for introducing me to beekeeping, as this has resulted in my orchard fruit trees increasing yield, quality, income, and pollination”. Grace has been able to use the additional proceeds from the honey to buy food and clothes and pay school fees.
Visit our website to learn more about how these grants are changing lives!
