The Yale Alumni Nonprofit Alliance hosted its annual conference and awards luncheon on Friday, connecting roughly 270 students and alumni in nonprofit work.
2:46 am, Oct 28, 2025
Staff Reporter
Courtesy of Kristin Urquiza
NEW YORK CITY — A network of Yale alumni in the nonprofit sector drew roughly 270 students, recent graduates and longtime alumni to the Yale Club of New York City on Friday for its annual conference.
The Yale Alumni Nonprofit Alliance was founded in 2011 by nine Yale alumni looking to connect Yalies involved in the nonprofit world and has since expanded to over 9,000 members worldwide. The group’s Social Impact Conference included workshops on strengthening partnerships and navigating fundraising in uncertain times.
“One of the things YANA is exceptional at is building community,” Kristin Urquiza ’03, the alliance’s executive director, told the News. “One of the important pieces of being successful in the nonprofit world is sharing learnings across generations and recognizing that some of these issues that they’re working to solve are intergenerational issues which are going to take all of us working together here and now and then setting up future generations for success.”
The conference was centered on the theme “Stronger Together: Building Resilient Nonprofits” and featured Andrew W. Mellon Foundation President Elizabeth Alexander ’84 as the welcome and keynote speaker. Accompanying the programming was the “Generation-to-Generation” awards luncheon, during which the alliance typically presents three honorees at different stages in their careers who have made an impact in the nonprofit space.
The honorees this year included Jonathan Fanton ’65 GRD ’77 ’78, a former president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Khalid Cannon ’17, the president and chief program officer of the nonprofit Put Me In!, which provides youth sports opportunities for children of incarcerated parents; and Mariko Silver ’99, the president of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
Andrey Sokolov ’27, the treasurer of the nonprofit network’s student chapter, said that while organizations exist on campus to support students entering the private sector, no comparable organization exists for students looking to enter the nonprofit sector.
Sokolov said he hopes the student chapter can build that community on campus.
“I think that YANA needs to take on this niche, this kind of purpose of helping students realize that there are not just for-profit organizations or for-profit activities to do after college,” Sokolov said. “There is also a nonprofit pathway forward, and there is one that will give you just as much satisfaction and just as much initiative and purpose as you would in any different avenue of life.”
Benjamin Barkoff ’27, the president of the student chapter, which was established last year, said he was inspired by the willingness of alumni to connect and recount the experiences that led them into the nonprofit world.
Barkoff, who founded the nonprofit Whiskey Bravo, which aids students in organizing service projects to support military families and veterans, said the student chapter is building out three of its core initiatives this year: a speaker series that will bring alumni leaders in social impact back to campus, a mentorship program that pairs undergraduates with alumni working in nonprofits and an internship-matching program.
“The biggest takeaway for me from the conference was the sense of community and the openness of alumni to support students,” Barkoff said. “We’re incredibly grateful to have been included. It really emphasized how strong and generous the Yale network is.”
Ken Inadomi ’76, the founder of the Alumni Nonprofit Alliance, told the News that, for him, the most rewarding aspect of the conference is witnessing the range of attendees, from current students to older alumni who have led established careers.
“We have to keep investing, inspiring and supporting the next generation of leaders because it’s a tough world out there,” Inadomi said. “There are setbacks, there are challenges, things are gonna happen but stick with it.”
The alliance’s website says that 66 percent of Yale alumni are “involved in the social impact sector.”
BENJAMIN HERNANDEZ
Benjamin Hernandez covers Woodbridge Hall, the President’s Office. He previously reported on international affairs at Yale. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, he is a sophomore in Trumbull College majoring in Global Affairs.