History and Results

ClassACT HR73 began in 2013 at our 40th Reunion. Leading up to the reunion, Marion Dry and Jonathan Sprague interviewed nearly 50 members of HR 1973 to gauge interest in developing opportunities for classmates to work together to create change. After some refinement, they discussed the initial concept plan with representatives of Harvard Alumni Association, posted it to the Class website, linked it to mailings for the Class’s Fortieth Reunion, and distributed it with reunion registration packets. Over a hundred classmates attended two informational/ discussion meetings at the Reunion, and two focal points emerged: a strong desire for collaboration to address local, national, and international issues and the determination to create opportunities for classmates to connect or reconnect to expand their relationships.

Within a year ClassACT HR73 had registered as a 501(c)3. Our initial board of 7 has grown to 14 and we have engaged hundreds of classmates in the work.

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.