IMPACT and ACCOMPLISHMENTS

ClassACT HR73 was launched in 2013 at our 40th Reunion. Co-Founders Marion Dry and Jonathan Sprague gathered thoughts from roughly 50 classmates, refined their concept of organizing collaborative efforts for change, shared the ClassACT concept with Harvard Alumni Association personnel, and presented it at reunion events.

Within a year, ClassACT had registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Its board has expanded from the original seven members to 14. Hundreds of classmates have been and continue to be involved in its many initiatives in a variety of capacities.

WHAT WE'VE DONE SO FAR:

 Together with the Weatherhead Institute for International Affairs and the Salata Institute, sponsored a symposium on climate change, public-private partnerships, and social equity, featuring our 2024 BBLP Fellow, Nazmul Haque.

 Helmed by Rick Brotman '73, created our HR73 @50 Video Project, in which Brotman interviews classmates who have done exceptional work, broadly defined, in anticipation of and after our 50th Reunion.

 Launched the Environment & Climate Change Working Group, focused on Biodiversity and Land Trusts.

 Launched the Healthcare Working Group, which is focused on partnering classmates to tackle issues like healthcare inequity and vaccines.

 Launched the Justice & Civic Engagement Initiative, focused on voting rights in key states, voter suppression, and civics education.

 Created the ClassACT HR73 Forum Series on Zoom to help attendees understand important issues and learn how they can make a difference.

 Created the Benazir Bhutto Leadership Program which has sponsored Fellows for the Mason Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

 Helped over a dozen classmate sponsored non-profits called Bridges by connecting them to pro bono services. 

 Held events or hosted weekend gatherings in New Orleans, Washington, D.C., the San Francisco Bay area, Chicago, Cincinnati, New York, and Cambridge/Boston.

 Convened classmates with interest in human rights issues, sponsoring a Jeffersonian Dinner related to judicial reform with overcrowded prisons as the topic, in New York in the spring of 2018.

 Working with the Radcliffe Institute, we helped organize classmates to sponsor the Rama Mehta Lecture, focused on women in developing countries, during our 45th Reunion year.

 Facilitated a connection between physician classmates in order to implement world-class, free pediatric diagnostic software for a multi-site pediatric clinic in Costa Rica.

 Formed Board of Directors and gained IRS-approved 501(c)3 not-for-profit status.

“It’s a combination of being with colleagues and being with friends and doing your best to help other people. It’s a great way to spend time.”

—Sallie Gouverneur, Founding Board Member