Five years ago, in 2019, the Stanford First-Generation and/or Low-Income Alumni Network (FLAN) was born from a vision of connection, empowerment, and advocacy. As we celebrate our fifth birthday anniversary, we reflect on the strides we have made and the community we have built together:
a growing and vibrant membership of nearly 1,500 members.
FLI Alumni Brunch: an annual community brunch at reunion homecoming weekend that is free to our membership to attend
FLI Graduation: an annual celebration of our FLI graduates held on the Stanford campus to welcome them to the alumni community
FLAN Cafes: quarterly community building events via zoom to come together in community with other FLAN members of topics unique to the FLI community
Enriching events: educational events, such as virtual networking and how-to-network events, using AI in the job search and career coaching
FLI-nancial literacy: events on topics like budgeting, homebuying, trust & estate planning
Increasing Accessibility: a reunion homecoming travel grant funded completely by our membership to enable more of our members to attend reunion homecoming
Local Community Building: pilot in-person events we're hoping to expand to more areas in the upcoming year
From our inception, FLAN's purpose has been clear: to create a strong, vibrant network for Stanford's First-Generation and/or Low-Income (FLI) alumni. We have worked tirelessly to organize networking and community-building opportunities, support current FLI students through collaboration on campus groups and departments with the First-Generation and/or Low-Income Partnership (FLIP), and advocate for the needs and rights of our community within Stanford's broader ecosystem. As a proud and official chartered club of the Stanford Alumni Association (SAA), we are dedicated to fostering enduring intellectual and emotional connections between the university and its graduates.
A Call to Action
As we look to the future, we are excited to expand the programming and support we offer to our alumni. To achieve this, we need your help. Your generosity can make a significant difference in enhancing our initiatives, such as increasing the number of reunion homecoming grants we can offer, expanding our in person programming (and including financial support to enable all of our membership to attend), expanding our reach for speaker recruitment of educational events, and more. We invite you to join us in this endeavor by making a contribution to FLAN.
Your contributions will directly impact our ability to offer more comprehensive programming, create new opportunities for networking and professional development, and strengthen the bonds that tie our community together. Together, we can build on the foundation we've established and continue to empower the next generation of FLI alumni.
Thank you for being an integral part of our journey. Here's to five incredible years and to many more ahead!
