14
Isabel Binamira ’13 was almost six months
removed from her St. Paul’s graduation when
the storm hit.
On November 8, 2013, Typhoon Haiyan ripped through
Southeast Asia, causing catastrophic damage to one of
the Philippines’ most populous island territories. There,
in Binamira’s native country, the storm killed more than
6,000 people, while many others remained missing. Haiyan
would later go down as the deadliest typhoon on record
in the region.
As the world rallied in support, Binamira decided to
return home. She formed a group called
connect.PH:
Typhoon Haiyan
, which provides supplies and raises
money and awareness for victims in Northern Cebu. With
a starting goal of $1,000, Binamira and her colleagues
raised more than $16,000 in Haiyan relief over eight days.
Secretary of State and fellow Paulie John Kerry ’62
was scheduled to tour the Philippines around the same
time. Binamira heard about the trip and hoped to invite
Kerry to see her work firsthand, perhaps shining a
brighter spotlight on the devastation in Northern Cebu.
It seemed unlikely, but Binamira took a chance and
reached out to a few key members of the SPS alumni
network, despite her reservations.
“I was worried that I wouldn’t be taken seriously as a
young alumna,” Binamira recalls. She contacted SPS Rector
Michael Hirschfeld ’85, who put her in touch with SPS
Alumni Resource Officer Tina Pickering ’82. Pickering
happened to be reconnecting with formmate Lewis Lukens,
the current U.S. ambassador to Senegal and the former
travel director under then-Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton. A few Facebook messages later, Lukens was in
touch with his State Department contacts in South Africa.
In the end, two of Kerry’s aides e-mailed Binamira asking
for details of her project so Kerry could use the informa-
tion in one of his speeches.
“I don’t have a lot of experience with networking,”
Binamira continues, “but with the SPS alumni network,
you’re put in touch with people who are actively trying
to help you achieve your goals.”
Binamira’s luck with the State Department, while
exceptional, underscores just how far the SPS network
extends – from the distant corners of the globe to the
hallowed corridors of the U.S. State Department – and
just how effective a chain of simple messages can be.
It’s no secret that St. Paul’s students graduate with a
degree of prominent connections at their disposal and,
for many, the knowledge of how to capitalize on an oppor-
tunity when it presents itself. It’s never easy for a job
seeker to test the waters of a potential employer. But,
according to SPS alumni who have used their network-
ing skills effectively, successful connections are simply
based on getting out there and being opportunistic.
That may be easier today than it’s ever been, as the
formal process of connecting with alumni has changed
significantly over the last decade. The SPS Alumni Assoc-
iation acts as primary gatekeeper and purveyor of all
alumni-related events and information, keeping the gen-
eral database of addresses and phone numbers up to
date and fielding queries from SPS alums wishing to
get in touch with old formmates. The Alumni Office
welcomes such queries, though typically on a case-by-
case basis, depending on the nature of the request.
“In general we try to act as intermediary so we’re pro-
tecting the privacy of alums,” says Alumni Association
Executive Director Bob Rettew ’69. But Rettew also points
out that today’s methods for contacting alumni are strongly
rooted in tools like social media and the all-important
smartphone application. “The single most powerful tool
[for connecting SPS alumni] is probably the alumni app.
That, Facebook, and LinkedIn, would be the three things
I would recommend using, knowing about, and playing
with, but also knowing that the School’s staff is always
willing to help answer questions in person.”
“I think that’s one of the
biggest differences between
St. Paul’s and maybe a Harvard
or a Stanford. We’re a small group,
and people immediately have a
sense of what it means to
have gone to St. Paul’s.”