Contributor: John Harris, WG'88
To learn more about John, click here.
Dear Friends,
You have heard the old saying, “When you are a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” When the Wharton Healthcare Management Alumni Association elected a strategy consultant to be president, a strategic plan was definitely on the table. The WHCMAA Board is completing that strategic plan, and we are excited about the future.
Our Mission remains steady: To support the Wharton Healthcare Management Program and its students; contribute to the lifelong learning of its membership; and contribute to the healthcare sector through service, leadership, and education.
Our Vision is: The Wharton Healthcare Management Alumni Association is the leading network for the business of health; providing meaningful engagement, lifelong learning, and career guidance; and connecting leaders with students, faculty, and fellow Wharton alumni in the business of health.
To achieve this vision we identified four goals:
I. Engagement: Wharton alumni in the healthcare industry will engage in meaningful and relevant ways with students, faculty, and fellow alumni, focusing on their areas of particular interest. WHCMAA will support engagement through sector-specific virtual communities and opportunities to meet in person.
II. Communication: WHCMAA will communicate effectively with alumni, students, faculty and the broader University of Pennsylvania network in a manner that builds community, provides value, and drives meaningful engagement.
III: Career Development: We will enhance the lifelong value of WHCMAA engagement by connecting WHCMAA members at every phase of their career; providing network navigation, coaching/mentoring, community building, and lifelong learning.
IV: Program Support: Our growing network of engaged alumni will provide additional support for scholarships, student initiatives, and other program needs.
Key initiatives to support these efforts include:
Interest Groups: We are setting up Interest Groups to provide the most relevant information and opportunity to each alum. In the coming months, we will be asking you to choose an Interest Group so we can connect you with the right colleagues. The four Interest Groups are:
- Provider/Payer
- Life Sciences
- Digital Health/IT
- Finance/Investing
Communication Platform: We will be selecting social media and other communication tools that will support effective interaction within the Interest Groups, for Career Development, and more broadly.
Connecting/Reconnecting: We will be reaching out to all eligible WHCMAA members, including alumni of Wharton and WEMBA as well as the Healthcare Management program alumni who have lost contact with this amazing network.
Career Development: We are redesigning our career development support to enhance and build upon the incredible personal support we have each received over the years from June Kinney.
There are so many opportunities for us to strengthen our community. If you want to be part of any of this, please contact me so you can get plugged in.
Warm regards,
John Harris
President
Wharton Health Care Management Alumni Association
To contact John:
[email protected]
877.676.3600