This winter, the BLI welcomed back four alumni for our Winter 2026 panel and professional development workshop. Some of these folks had only engaged with the BLI in limited capacities, such as a one-credit mini-course freshman year, and others had a deeper connection, including years-long fellowships. Regardless of their depth, these were experiences that left an impact and ultimately brought them back to our community. A successful BLI alumnus does not need to fit into a specific box or meet certain participation requirements. Instead, it can be someone who shows up engaged, participates fully, and creates relationships with current students. We are overjoyed to welcome back alumni for an opportunity to re-engage with programming in a new way and a chance for our students to learn from (and with) them!

Our BLI panel, moderated by Alumni Liaison and incoming Lead Applied Fellow, Jolie Oleshansky, invited a conversation about what leadership looks like post-grad with Jonae Maxey, Adam Cohn, Christopher Pumford, and Dipita Das. Each coming from vastly different backgrounds, the panel centered on non-linear pathways and on how students can set themselves apart in a competitive and constantly changing workforce. With almost 50 attendees, students left with extremely positive feedback. One student noted the networking session after the alumni panel, saying, “I think it allowed both [alumni and students] to get comfortable and share more stories of one's journey while offering more room to talk outside of structured time.” The panel provided information that everyone in the room could benefit from, and the one-on-one networking session allowed students to ask their personal career and life questions.

In addition to the panel, Jolie created a professional development workshop along with Leadership Teaching Fellows Thomas Hala-Garza and Zach Sieloff, centered on a similar theme of lifelong leadership learning. The four alumni guests joined a select number of upperclass students for a morning workshop on what the BLI Habits can and do look like post-grad. Alumni were able to bring their own experiences to case study discussions, and students deepened their understanding of how to maintain their connections after graduation.

If you are an alum reading this, we encourage you to participate in future BLI alumni events, no matter how engaged you were in your four years of undergrad. Our community has grown, and we want to share our expanded programming and offerings with you. Summer 2026, we are going On The Road for dinners in NYC, Washington D.C., and Chicago! Fill out this form for more information: BLI On The Road Summer 2026, or contact Jolie directly at BLIAlumniEngagement@umich.edu.

Winter Alumni Panel

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