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The laughing monkey event on September 5 in Sunnyvale was a huge success with over 50 city year alumni representing 13 city year sites and 28 graduation years.��Alumni attended to learn from ��ɫ��Ƶ SJSV Executive Director, Luke Hostetter, and ��ɫ��Ƶ CEO, Jim Balfanz, the current state and future vision for ��ɫ��Ƶ. Alumni and staff connected on their stories of impact and their willingness to give back to the current American members, whether it be through hosting professional development days, reviewing résumé workshops, or even recruiting new members.

Staff enjoyed learning about the various career trajectories of past ACMs into their current roles. Alumni, outside the education space, came from companies like Stripe, Salesforce, Meta, LinkedIn, Accenture, and Deloitte. The highlight of the event was the laid-back atmosphere with great food and drink.

Theki Chang, ��ɫ��Ƶ San Jose/Silicon Valley, 2022-23:
“I was really excited to meet Laura Kazanovicz (the Senior Director of National Alumni Impact) in person for the first time. I knew her name prior to the event because I had exchanged emails with her in 2023 as she helped me navigate Deloitte’s Career Catalyzer Program for ��ɫ��Ƶ. Meeting her now that I am a Deloitte Consultant and being able to thank her for her support during that time made me realize once again how grateful I am to the ��ɫ��Ƶ Organization for giving me so many opportunities to succeed.”

Arnel Victorio, ��ɫ��Ƶ San Jose/Silicon Valley, AmeriCorps Member (2016-2017), Team Leader (2017-2018) and Impact Manager and Director (2018-2023):
“The event at Laughing Monk felt like returning home, and exceeded all my expectations. Seeing so many people from my formative professional years like Libby, who I worked with on my first MLK Day of Service, Daniel, an ACM during my early leadership years, and Angela, a former colleague who I shared successes and struggles with at both manager and director levels at ��ɫ��Ƶ. To cap it all off, I got a little emotional when we engaged in a strong circle and ended on a break with everyone. I know better than to try and speak for all, but I say with pride that coming together and ending even stronger than how we started remains a part of me. This shows the great potential that our network holds, and can mean everything to what we can all do inside and outside of the organization.”��

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