International Alumni Center Opens Its Doors
International Alumni Center starts operations in Berlin
Working under the auspices of the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the organization promotes cross-foundation cooperation and change-driven alumni work
iac Berlin to coordinate the Bosch Alumni Network
Stuttgart/Berlin, June 27, 2017 - With the International Alumni Center, the Robert Bosch Stiftung is setting up a cross-foundation, cross-sector competence center for change-driven alumni work.
"In an era of dwindling cohesion within society and a renewal of international animosities, we are consciously harnessing the power of cooperation between foundations and building close working relationships with partners from other sectors. We regard alumni as partners and cocreators of peaceful, fair, and forward-looking societies. By setting up iac Berlin as an open platform, we want to help former scholarship holders, funding recipients, and foundation employees come together as a global network of people who drive change and shape society," explains Professor Joachim Rogall, Chief Executive Officer of the Robert Bosch Stiftung.
The International Alumni Center commenced operations on June 27 at its office in Linienstrasse 65a in Berlin. It is led by Darius Polok, who himself is a former alumnus of the Foundation and has long been the CEO and cofounder of MitOst - a civil organization that was set up twenty years ago by alumni from the Lectureship Program of the Robert Bosch Stiftung.
"I am thrilled that we put the idea into practice so quickly. Another key factor is that many other foundations at home and abroad, some quite sizable, are envious of our outstanding network platform," remarks Chief Executive Officer Uta-Micaela Dürig. "Given his experience of foundations, Joachim Rogall had dreamed of this idea for a long time. Thanks to my professional background as a journalist and communicator, I was also aware of the power of crowdsourcing. So even before I joined the Foundation on July 1, 2015, I dreamed of putting the knowledge and creativity of thousands of alumni to good use in order to tackle new issues and challenges," adds Dürig. "iac is now the answer!"
Working globally and across sectors, iac Berlin brings together private and public bodies and their networks, both in a digital and analog manner, in order to define joint goals and develop solutions for complex challenges. Knowledge and experience are pooled; new networking methods are developed and made available to stakeholders in society in the form of "open knowledge." iac Berlin advises foundations and other charitable organizations on their alumni work, assists them with practical solutions for building change-driven networks, and initiates new forms of cooperation.
It also coordinates the newly founded Bosch Alumni Network on behalf of the Robert Bosch Stiftung. The aim of the network is to bring together former scholarship holders, people who received long-term funding, and foundation employees, support their activities, maintain contact with the Foundation, and work in partnership with them in the furtherance of the Foundation’s goals. This global network of stakeholders in society comes together at www.boschalumni.net - a portal that has been developed in conjunction with the network members in line with the motto "Let’s do it together!"