The BLI Dinner with series offers a valuable opportunity for Leadership Fellows to enjoy a dinner with a BLI stakeholder, community leader, and/or U-M alum to get a behind the curtain view of their leadership journey. Dinner attendees build community, share leadership interests, and cultivate meaningful connections in an informal setting.
The 2019-20 series kicked off in November when the BLI had the opportunity to host Senator Stephanie Chang. Through the 2-hour conversation with Senator Stephanie Chang, students connected with her through their shared UM experiences and discussed how to develop negotiation skills, navigate multiple identities, fight for social justice and positively impact one's community.
The dinners continued with notable guests including, Jeff Hall, UM alum and founder and president of Second to None; Dave Barger, co-founder of JetBlue Airway and co-founder of BLI; Anne Curzan, Dean of LSA; and Mirabai Bush, co-founder and former director of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society.
"From my experience (Dave Korus and Jeff Hall) in the "Dinner with," I've learned just how valuable an hour or two of listening and learning from an alumnus really is. You never know where a conversation might go, but you are guaranteed to walk away with more than a few new lessons learned and values to live by. The "Dinner with" series is a prime (and low-stakes) opportunity to work on your active listening skills and learning how to ask meaningful questions. Alumni that participate in this event are so excited to talk with students and are very willing to share insights into their career and life. There are few better learning opportunities on campus!"
Joseph Coates, Data Science, Mathematics 2021
The Dinner with series is currently on pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but we look forward to bringing a new series of dinners soon!
