It’s a Thursday evening and snippets of engaged conversations float out of Trinity Western University’s Alumni Hall. Inside the packed room, local business people and current TWU students chat animatedly about possible summer internship opportunities.
Sponsored by the TWU Alumni Association, TWU’s Computing Science program, and local tech business Domain7, the inaugural Career Meetup brought together 14 local businesses with students from across a number of disciplines—and resulted in 25 internship opportunities for students. “Our idea is to facilitate a valuable link between industry and academia,” says Brady Schlecker (’10), Executive Director, TWU Alumni Association. “We want to add value not only to our alumni and student communities, but also to the broader community.”
The recent relaunch of TWU’s Computing Science program—made possible by passionate alumni like Domain7 President Ryan Hanawalt (’02)—served as inspiration for the first Career Meetup. “The people that I went to TWU with are leaders in their businesses,” says Hanawalt. “That’s what I see, that Trinity has the ability to create leaders who really do have an impact in business and in the world.”
The Career Meetup program is grassroots-driven, connecting a network of alumni-led and alumni-friendly businesses to a pipeline of student talent, while helping students to develop competencies within the professional world. “In the long term, we want to see where opportunity exists and then fan those flames, bringing a strong network to life,” Schlecker says. “Our goal is to bring visible, tangible benefits to our alumni community, as well as to the businesses that participate in the program.”
Want to know how your business can participate in the Career Meetup program? Email us at info@twualumni.org.
Find out more about TWU’s Computing Science Program relaunch