By Paul Eduarko Richardson
Accra, March 18, GNA – The Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) Business School has launched the GIMPA Business School Alumni Network (GiBSAN) to mobilise students and graduates for professional growth, leadership and excellence.
Launched in the GIMPA GB Auditorium, GiBSAN has the slogan: “Connecting for Impact”.
The occasion also served as a homecoming to reunite the alumni and celebrate their fortunes and outstanding achievements.
Professor Ebenezer Adaku, Acting Dean, GIMPA Business School, said the School aimed at nurturing transformational leaders for the nation and the globe, adding that, forming partnership with the alumni was a strategic way to achieve that goal.
GiBSAN, he said, would foster lifelong learning by offering bespoke training programmes, conferences, faculty consultations, dissemination of annual research outputs, and many more.
He said doing so would enable the alumni to stay up to date on current trends in business and management to thrive in today’s disruptive environment.
He said by leveraging the rare competences and exposure of the School’s alumni, “specific arrangements such as professional transition programmes, career counselling and guidance, mentoring, and GIMPA Business School Job Dashboard would be pursued to support the alumni so as to configure and supercharge their careers and businesses.”
GiBSAN would also create the avenue for networking through the School’s information hub, local and diasporan alumni communities and social media platforms, Prof Adaku noted.
He added that GiBSAN would serve as a platform for members to give back through volunteering and donations to help develop future leaders of tomorrow’s businesses and society and to perpetuate the cycle of excellence.
Professor Samuel K. Bonsu, the Rector of GIMPA, said the Institute, as part of its strategic plan, sought to rekindle old relationships and strengthen existing ones.
The establishment of GiBSAN, he said, was, therefore, in the right direction towards achieving GIMPA’s vision.
“The alumni give GIMPA its glory. We do not exist without you,” he said, adding that more schools within the Institute would soon be launching their alumni networks.
Prof Bonsu urged GiBSAN members to serve as bridge across generations of students and be the spirit of GIMPA by connecting with other alumni.
He encouraged the alumni to contribute generously towards the GIMPA Endowment Fund to help alleviate the financial challenges of the Institute and its less privileged students.
Mr Albert Kwabena Dwumfuor, the President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), who is an alumnus of the GIMPA Business School, said he owed much to the Institute, adding that, “I am where I am today due to the excellent coaching, I received from GIMPA.
“I refer to GIMPA as my home because I spent most of my tertiary life here, so I am emotionally attached to this higher institution of excellence,” Mr Dwumfuor said.
He said GiBSAN had much to offer Ghanaians in terms of ideas and opportunities, adding that, “I am also proud to be part of the initiative as I see it as an opportunity to give back to my alma mater.”
Mr Dwumfuor assured that the GJA was ready to collaborate with GIMPA to ensure that the objectives for setting up GiBSAN were achieved.
As part of the launch, there was a panel discussion on the theme: “Building Partnerships for Business and Leadership Excellence”.
GNA