Give Back
Whether you support Alma Mater through your time and talents or by making a gift, the CAA is grateful for your generosity!
Serve on a CAA or School-based alumni board or committee; mentor current students or recent graduates, join the Speakers Bureau, or participate in CU There! programs; share valuable feedback as an alumni panelist; and more! To learn more about volunteering, contact the CAA at [email protected]
Or, consider deepening your impact on the students following in your footsteps by supporting the Columbia Student Support Initiative, a University-wide effort dedicated to expanding access through strengthening financial aid and scholarship resources. Explore ways to give and make a contribution here.
If you want to give back to Columbia with your expertise, time, or thoughts, the CAA welcomes you as a
volunteer, providing the best opportunities to leverage your participation for the greater Columbia community.
Volunteer
Become part of the CAA worldwide network of more than 385,000 Columbians by joining one of the 100-plus Global Clubs around the world or find a Shared Interest group, based on interests and affiliations. Become a member, attend events, volunteer, or join the club board or leadership committee.
From Varsity C, an organization dedicated to supporting Columbia Athletics through advice, counsel, and volunteer activity, to season ticket opportunities, there are many ways you can get involved with the Lions after graduation.
Interested in hiring top talent and making a difference for fellow Columbians? As an alum, you know the value of the Columbia degree and the benefits gained from valuable work experiences.
Post an internship, full-time job opportunity, or share your professional experience and advice for a student via the "Hire Columbians" campaign, CAA LinkedIn group, or Online Alumni Community.
The She Opened the Door initiative, which began with a historic conference in New York City in 2018, aims to enlighten, educate, elevate, and to empower Columbia women across the University. Visit the She Opened the Door landing page for everything you need to know, including event upcoming details, exclusive video clips, and how to get involved.
VolunteerColumbia is a place to post and find volunteer opportunities, grow membership,
integrate your programs, and support the strategy of the CAA's Volunteer Development Committee.
Whether you're looking at a one-time project or ongoing opportunities, use your time, passion, skills, and willingness to serve the University.
Across all of Columbia's Schools, there are many ways to get involved. Contact your School's alumni office to learn how you can participate in mentoring, community service, and other programs.
Columbia Alumni Association
The Columbia Alumni Association's (CAA) mission is to cultivate a global community of Columbia alums, students, faculty, and staff to explore interests, exchange ideas, and take actions that enrich one another, the University, and the world.
The CAA's vision statement is: Where every Columbian can build, belong, and go beyond
Read the full list of the Columbia Alumni Association Bylaws here.
Developed by the Task Force on Belonging, the Community Standard helps define the environment expected when engaging with the alumni community and the standard to which we hope all Columbians aspire.
Columbia Alumni Association (CAA) Community Standard
The Columbia Alumni Association (CAA) commits to supporting and maintaining an accessible and visible community where diversity of identity and thought is respected and celebrated. The participants in all CAA programs, activities, and volunteer opportunities, are charged with creating environments where alumni, students, families, faculty, staff, and friends of the University treat each individual and group with collegiality, inclusivity, and respect.
View the full five-year plan here.
The CAA Board is the governing body of the CAA and seeks to keep alumni connected to the University and its Schools. A number of trustees serve on the board, with the current Co-chairs being Michelle Estilo Kaiser ’87CC, ’92VPS, ’97PH and Mary Kuo ’92CC, Co-Chair.
There is representation from each of the Schools on the Board, and there are term limits and a rotation process to guarantee a good cross-section of alumni leaders at all times. Meet the CAA Board.
Michelle Estilo Kaiser '87CC, '92PH, '97VPS graduated from Columbia College's first fully coeducational class, following her older sister Karen '85BC. She returned to Columbia University for graduate school, earning an MPH in Epidemiology in 1992 and an MD in 1997, before completing her training in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and New York-Presbyterian/Weill-Cornell Medical Center.
In 2007, she re-engaged with Columbia, serving on her 20th College reunion committee. She joined the Dean’s Alumnae Task Force in 2010, volunteered as an Alumni Representative Committee interviewer and mentor, is a member of the Alumnae Legacy Circle, and has served on the Boards of Columbia College Women (CCW) and the Columbia College Alumni Association, as Co-Chair of CCW Mentoring and Vice President, State of the College. Estilo Kaiser believes in the ideal of "One Columbia," because of her positive experiences across campuses. She participated in the CAA 2023 Task Force and is currently a member of the CAA Board. She served on the Columbia University Senate as an Alumni Senator from 2018-2021. She is co-chair of the Alumni Relations Committee and also serves on the External Relations, Budget, and Campus Planning Committees.
Mary Kuo '92CC graduated from Columbia College with a BA in Economics. She was a member of the Varsity Cross Country and Track and was the recipient of Columbia’s Marion R. Philips Watch Award in 1992. Mary has served as a core CAA Singapore volunteer for over a decade, and has led and co-organized programs for both students and alumni in Singapore and globally. CAA has provided a platform to help bring alumni together, no matter where they live in the world, to build and maintain a Columbia community whose ethos is to support, act as resources for each other and their communities, and to create a positive impact globally.
Most recently, in the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Mary, together with alumni in Asia and NYC, helped organize the mass distribution of desperately-needed PPE to alumni healthcare workers in NYC and at NYP-Columbia. She has also worked with alumni to organize events to raise funds for international charities. In 2018, Mary co-chaired the inaugural Singapore Ivy Ball, which brought together Ivy League alumni based in Singapore, to benefit vulnerable communities in India, Nepal, and Bhutan.
Committees provide the infrastructure to support CAA alumni leaders and clubs with the resources needed to engage with Columbians around the world. There are committees that address Columbia Alumni Leaders Weekend planning, associations and clubs, digital marketing, programming, honors and prizes, recent alumni, and student relations.
Awards
Alumni Medalists are recognized for building Columbia's community—whether regionally, online, in specific Schools, or in cross-campus initiatives. Recipients are honored at University Commencement and at the Alumni Medalists Gala during Columbia Alumni Leaders Weekend. Learn more about the 2023 Alumni Medalists through their bios.
Looking for more information on the Medalists? You can:
- See a list of all Medalists since 1933
- Watch inspiring videos featuring Medalists from 2009-2022
Fill out a nomination form online. You will be asked to provide information about the positions your candidate has held, when the positions were held, references, and a brief explanation of the nomination.
In 2016, the Columbia University Trustees and the CAA established The Campbell Award, which is presented to a graduating student at each School who shows exceptional leadership and Columbia spirit as exemplified by the late Bill Campbell '62CC, '64TC, Chair Emeritus, University Trustee and CAA co-founder. Meet the 2023 recipients.