April 2010

Dear Fellow Harvard Alumni,

Thank you for your support of our local alumni club and for your unprecedented participation in our events. I am thrilled to tell you that our membership is at an all time high of approximately 1,400 paying members, representing 10% of the Bay Area Harvard graduates. However, we strive to one day reach most of our 13,000 local alumni with relevant programming and volunteer opportunities. Our Club volunteers and officers are continually looking for better ways to serve the needs of our alumni. In support of this goal we asked you to complete the first-ever HCSF online membership survey in March. We received approximately 500 responses to date (you can still participate by going to https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HCSF2). The suggestions we received included:

• Adding events tailored to families with young children
• Expanding the geographic span of our events to include the East Bay
• Inviting more speakers from Harvard – including faculty members and successful graduates
• Clarifying the value in joining the Harvard Club of San Francisco

• Launching the Harvard Alumni Family Days Series this summer which will offer networking opportunities for parents, playtime for children and events at child-friendly local museums and parks.
• We would like to hold more functions in the East Bay and are actively looking for volunteers to help spearhead and/or offer up venues for these events – please email activities@harvardclubsf.org if you would like to help.
• We are bringing in more Harvard Professors and well-recognized graduates. Sheryl Sandberg, Harvard AB and MBA, will be keynoting our Annual Dinner on Thursday, June 10th at the University Club. She is the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook and was named as one of the 50 most influential women by Fortune Magazine in 2009. In addition, Amar Bhidé, visiting scholar to the Kennedy School of Government and previous faculty member at Harvard Business School, will speak with our members this fall about his forthcoming book, A Call for Judgment: Sensible Finance for a Dynamic Economy.
• Lastly, we have launched an official Member Benefits program. We want you to be confident that your $60 annual membership (regular membership cost) provides value beyond the discounts you receive on our 100+ events per year. Please check our website soon to see new discounts with the Ritz Carlton in San Francisco, Dell Computers and the Sports Basement.

On another note, I'm happy to announce that we have completed a major upgrade to our website. You will now find the process of registering for events easier and faster, since your profile information can be saved and pre-populated into the event registration form. In addition, we have made it easier to quickly find events of interest to you– simply click on the day when you are free and find out what is happening in your alumni community. There are numerous other enhancements, such as the ability to view photo galleries from past events and join the HCSF Facebook group with a single click. Check the new website at www.harvardclubsf.org and visit us often as our site is updated continually.

Thank you to our membership for supporting the HCSF, strengthening our local alumni network and continuing to foster ties between San Francisco and Harvard University. For those of you who are not yet members, please attend one of our upcoming events to see what you've been missing! Whether you are interested in reconnecting with old classmates, business networking, sharing a passion in the performing arts with other alums, or just having fun, we have something in store for you! We look forward to seeing you soon. We also welcome you to attend any of our recurring monthly Activities and Community Service committee meetings to find out how you can put innovative ideas into action to better our club and local community. Lastly, please don't forget to confirm that you have renewed your membership for 2010. You can do this by visiting our website and clicking on the crimson Harvard Alumni log on box, or by contacting our Executive Director, Kirsten Pickford at info@harvardclubsf.org.

Yours sincerely

Sheela Goud Zemlin

Harvard MBA '98

President, Harvard Club of San Francisco

Email: president@harvardclubsf.org

November 2009

Dear HCSF Members and Friends,

Thank you for your continued interest in and support of the Harvard Club of San Francisco!

I feel honored to follow in the footsteps of Immediate Past President Amy Hanson (AB '92), who through her dedication and leadership has taken the Club to new heights!

The past year was a successful one for the HCSF across several measures. First, at approximately 1,500 members, the HCSF is now one of the largest Harvard alumni clubs in the world! Second, we are without a doubt one of the most active clubs in terms of frequency and quality of events, offering on average three programs per week (cultural, social, educational, family-oriented, and more) to appeal to our diverse membership (many thanks to our VP of Activities, Jen Shin, and all of our Activities Committee volunteers!) Third, HCSF volunteers have richly contributed to the local community by offering hundreds of hours of support, advice, and inspiration for middle school and high school students in the Bay Area. Finally, our club was recognized as the "Club of the Year" by the Harvard Alumni Association in Cambridge based on the exceptional results in the areas of membership, technology, succession, community service, outreach to young alumni, outreach to graduate alumni, schools and scholarship efforts, programming, or overall general improvement. What an honor!

During the current term, the priorities for the Club will focus on improving the usability and features on our website (www.harvardclubsf.org) and increasing our presence through other online channels (e.g., LinkedIn, Twitter), creating stronger connections between our Bay Area alumni and the Harvard faculty and administration, and and improving our financial situation through increased membership and contributions from our alumni.

In order for the Club to continue to thrive, I'd like to personally ask each of you for your support over the next year and beyond. First and foremost, please plan to attend a few events this year. You'll surely be able to find more than enough events of interest to you, wherever your interests may lie. Our goal for every HCSF event is to incorporate an opportunity to network with other alums–before, after, or as the central focus of the event. So come out and enjoy yourself with your fellow alums! Second, please help us to make our club even more successful by volunteering your time–even for a few hours–attending a committee meeting, participating in one of our co-sponsored Boys and Girls Club activities, encouraging your employer to sponsor a speaker series, etc. Lastly, please continue your membership in the club and remind your friends and classmates to join as well! Remember, this is your club– put your personal stamp on it!

In closing, I'd like to thank officers and board members of the HCSF who contribute so much time and energy. Amy Hanson (AB '92), Immediate Past President; Jen Shin (PhD '08), VP Activities; Preston Dodd (EdM '94), President Elect; Spencer Rhodes (AB '00, MBA '04), Chairman and HAA Regional Director; Greg Groeneveld (MPP '88), Secretary; Katherine Dowling (JD '98), VP Communications; Andy Cohen (AB '92), outgoing Treasurer, Stephanie Evans, EdM '79, and Marv Kasoff (AB '64), VP Membership–thank you for your ongoing dedication. I would also like to welcome new officers and board members Norm Boone (MBA '77), Treasurer; Jason Young (AB '04), VP Partnerships; Michael R. Alderete (AB '79), VP Schools Committee; and Tommy Smith (MPA '06), VP Community Service.

I sincerely hope to speak with and hear from all of you over the coming year. Until then...

Sheela Goud Zemlin, MBA '98
President, Harvard Club of San Francisco
president@harvardclubsf.org

Read Letters from Past Presidents