By Joanna George, Founder & CEO of Alluminate
Why do most private schools act as if their responsibility ends the moment students gain their qualifications?
As the Founder of Alluminate, I have spent years listening to educators, parents and alumni, and again and again, I repeatedly hear frustration about the “hands-off” mentality that dominates alumni support in independent schools. In 2025, simply guiding young people into top universities is not enough.
Parents, educators, and forward-thinkers must grapple with a larger, more urgent question: What comes next?
Private schools must start thinking in decades, not cycles.
Who will be the legacy makers in 2075? What impact will today's graduates have 50 years from now at the age of 68? How will work opportunities, technology and society evolve during that time? Who was there to help guide them, give them encouragement when they needed it, or provide practical support that was genuinely helpful to them?
For generations, the makers of legacy were those who led, inspired and built lasting institutions.
Unless they were a published author, a notable politician, or a distinguished war hero, “ordinary alumni” were never celebrated while living, and their legacy of connection — of ongoing, multidisciplinary communication — was quietly lost over time.
If schools are’t capturing and amplifying these diverse and numerous stories, they're missing an extraordinary opportunity.