The Business of Belonging: How Community Creates Commercial Opportunity

Southwestern has been investing in people and building businesses for over 150 years. From its origins as a door-to-door book sales company in 1855 to a family of companies spanning multiple industries, its story is one of community, entrepreneurship and lasting connection.

It’s also writing its own blueprint for what alumni can mean to a business.

We'll be joined by Hans Schlegel, VP of Alumni Engagement, who will share how Southwestern turned a strong cultural bond, built through its sales school, traditions and lifelong relationships, into a measurable commercial channel: alumni who refer business, and who go on to found and lead companies of their own.

Join us to learn more about:

• How to treat alumni as a business development channel, not just a community to stay in touch with.
• What Southwestern gives its alumni – mentorship, investment, support to start a business – and what those alumni give back.
• How segmentation helps turn a broad network into a targeted commercial asset.
• How to track and prove alumni's contribution so it becomes a named channel.
• Where the entrepreneurship funnel shows up in practice, drawn from real alumni who went from dealer to founder.