Four Questions with Kelly from William & Mary

Know what's fun? Building a community and getting to know each other a little better. If you're like me (👋🏼, it's Kim), you learn the most about our profession from others who are working in it!

We reached out to Kelly from William & Mary, and our timing was perfect. With a new title in the new year, Kelly is hiring and was thrilled to share more about the new roles (plural!) on her team.

Kelly S. Holdcraft is Executive Director for Alumni Success at William & Mary, where she's worked for more than a decade. Kelly is a super-connector, and we love her energy.

"Four Questions" continues with Kelly!

Most of us don't start our careers in advancement. Can you briefly share your path to your current role at William & Mary?

While I've had several career iterations, including corporate paralegal for a top AmLaw firm and publicly traded companies, attorney professional development, and academic director of Georgetown University’s Paralegal Studies program, the constant has always been volunteer leadership for my alma mater, Michigan State University. From volunteering for the DC Spartans immediately following graduation to serving on MSU’s Alumni Association board to writing my Master’s Thesis on an alumni engagement communication plan for MSUAA, my time, talent, treasure, ties, testimony, and trust for Michigan State have deepened and grown. It was through my experience on MSUAA’s board and connection with MSU Alumni Office staff, coupled with my Master’s in PR/Strategic Communications that I recognized alumni engagement as a career path I would be excited to travel along. I am ever grateful to my first boss at William & Mary, Karen Cottrell ’66. M.Ed. ’69, Ed.D. ’84 for taking the risk in hiring me, and always thankful to my current boss, Matt Brandon ’92 for continuing to trust me.

You led W&M's pivot to virtual in the early days of COVID-19. What lessons learned in COVID are you still following today?

During COVID, my team produced, collaborated on, and supported over 350 online Virtual Engagement Opportunities programs in 15 months. I learned the importance of collecting and reporting data in alumni engagement, building trust with campus partners, managing targeted communications channels, and knowing the strengths and skills of your team so you can weather and adapt to any crisis. I also learned that virtual, hybrid, and in-person alumni engagement require separate strategic and staffing plans and resources. When COVID thawed, the whiplash back to in-person programming was almost as intense and immediate as the pivot to virtual. Our entire team fell back into the in-person strategic plan because that is how we were structured, and it was comfortable after the strain of COVID. Now, as we look to the future of providing alumni engagement to diverse geographic, demographic, and generational W&M alumni, we recognize online engagement needs to be a resourced (resources = people, time, money) strategic priority. A great lead-in to the next question...

Tell us about the role you're currently hiring for and why it's such an important one for W&M!

Role?! Singular?! More like: Roles!! Plural!! My new Alumni Success team will have three new Directors whom I will work with to create strategic visions for three new teams: Volunteer Management, Affinity & Generational Engagement, and Alumni Engagement. Volunteer Management will create tools, resources, pipeline, and metrics for all volunteer leaders and colleagues in W&M Advancement. Affinity & Generational Engagement will support in-person and virtual engagement opportunities across the five generations, including Gen A students, and within multiple affinities, including our military and veteran alumni. Alumni Engagement will create and strengthen relationships with our alumni and current parents across regions and career communities, and partner with our Volunteer Management team to support volunteers and our Alumni Events and AGE teams to execute in-person and virtual events. In the next six months, I will hire eight new staff members and promote current staff to create successful engagement opportunities for our W&M alumni. If you are interested in building an alumni engagement empire with me, for now and for all time coming, please contact me! LET’S GOOOOOOOO!!!

What one app on your phone can you absolutely not live without?

Don’t laugh ... Facebook and for two reasons only: Memories and Meadows. I check the “Memories” section of Facebook often because for fifteen years I posted the pictorial progression of my family’s life there. Now, I take screenshots of those photos and moments of perfect happiness and send them to my husband and two college-age sons via our family group text to reminisce and connect. Facebook is also the place where our favorite local custard shop posts its monthly calendars and daily updates of flavors. When I hit the “Search” icon, the first entry is always “The Meadows Original Frozen Custard – Williamsburg, VA.”

Anddd ... now I'm craving frozen custard! A huge thanks to Kelly for taking the time to answer our questions. If you're interested in learning more about the roles on her team, shoot her an email at ksholdcraft@wm.edu. Kelly would also love to connect with fellow alumni engagement practitioners on LinkedIn, so be sure to send her a request: Kelly S. Holdcraft.

If you'd like to be the next CMAC community member featured on our page, let me know. Until next time! -KI