Last year, the AB50C Awards honored 50 exceptional leaders. But who are they beyond their roles? We spoke with these leaders to uncover the stories, passions, and perspectives that shape them and what truly sets them apart.

Why She’s an AB50C Champion

Sharon Parkinson is a leading voice in affinity engagement, championing an inclusive approach that honors the intersectionality of alumni experiences. Through campus partnerships and independently developed projects, she creates opportunities for alumni to connect through their shared identities, interests, and experiences, including athletics and the arts.

Her work stands out for its human-centered approach, thoughtfully considering alumni needs and experiences, making her a powerful champion of affinity engagement.

Beyond The Title

At Vassar College, Sharon Parkinson’s work centers on building meaningful connections among alumni. As Director of Affinity Engagement, she focuses on the shared identities, passions, and experiences that bring alumni together.

Affinity engagement, in Sharon’s view, is broader than many institutions imagine. It isn’t limited to cultural identity groups. It can also include alumni athletes, performing artists, veterans, first-generation graduates, and many others whose unique experiences connect them to one another and to the college. Drawing on 16 years in prospect development, she brings both a relational and analytical lens, ensuring programs resonate with alumni and align with institutional priorities.

By broadening affinity engagement, she has created programs that reflect alumni experiences and strengthen connections among alumni and with the college.

Finding Her Way into Advancement

For Sharon, her work is deeply personal. Coming from a long line of educators, she grew up understanding the power of education to transform lives, not just for individuals but for entire families and communities. That belief has guided her two-decade career in higher education advancement. She draws inspiration from alums, particularly first-generation graduates, whose paths demonstrate this transformative power.

Watching students grow into alumni and seeing the paths they create after graduation remains one of the most rewarding parts of her work.

What Winning AB50C Meant to Her?

Being named an AB50C Champion in the Unifier category recognizes the impact Sharon has had in fostering connections among alumni. Through her work, she has developed affinity engagement programs that provide multiple ways for alumni to connect with each other and with the college. For Sharon, that is the heart of engagement: creating spaces where people feel welcomed and valued by their alma mater.

An Initiative She is Proud of

One of Sharon’s proudest initiatives has been using digital storytelling to elevate alumni voices. Early in her role, she began conducting alumni interviews to better understand what they needed from engagement programming. A recurring theme emerged from these conversations: alumni wanted to see their diverse experiences more visibly reflected.

In response, Sharon started consistently sharing alumni vignettes across LinkedIn and Instagram, highlighting a wide range of achievements, milestones, and community heritage celebrations. These digital posts, blending storytelling and imagery, celebrate alumni communities.

She also created the Affinity Engagement Virtual Event Series, which showcases alum writers, artists, and scholars and includes a special well-being workshop led by Vassar’s associate director of counseling for alums in the United States and abroad. One program in the series, Breaking Barriers: Honoring Women Veterans through Women of the Post, was later awarded for its thoughtful curation and impactful storytelling in honoring the experiences of women veterans.

Reconnecting Alumni Through Shared Passions

Sometimes, the most powerful engagement comes from recognizing the communities that already exist. One example Sharon points to is the Vassar Repertory Dance Theatre (VRDT), the college’s faculty-led dance company, which gives students experience in the full creative and production process, from choreography to performance. Although alumni had stayed connected informally, VRDT alums had never held a formal reunion or celebration.

Sharon organized a 45th anniversary homecoming celebration, bringing alumni back to campus for a weekend that included an alum dance class, shared conversations over lunch with current dancers, and a Dance Pathways panel exploring how dance has shaped their lives beyond Vassar.

More than sixty alumni returned, many reconnecting with the college for the first time in years.

What Drives Her Work

For Sharon, advancement has never been just about fundraising. It’s about creating relationships that matter. When alumni feel truly engaged, they become ambassadors for the institution, mentoring students, participating in events, and inspiring others in their networks to reconnect.

A major part of her role is also helping others understand what affinity engagement means and why it is central to alumni engagement strategy. Because the concept can look different across institutions, educating colleagues and stakeholders is often a core part of the work.

What keeps her grounded is the people at the center of it all — alumni, students, and colleagues.

AI, Practically and Thoughtfully

AI tools have become a practical way for Sharon to manage her workload and work more efficiently. She uses AI to streamline tasks that once took hours, from gathering information to drafting materials and organizing content.

At the same time, she emphasizes responsible use, ensuring that information is fact-checked, privacy is protected, and biases are carefully avoided. Sharon sees the real value of AI in freeing people to focus on work only we can do: listening actively and building trust to strengthen alum communities.

As she puts it, AI should support, not replace, human judgment.

Rapid Fire

Where It All Comes Together

At the heart of Sharon’s work is the belief that effective engagement reflects the values and lived experiences of the communities served.

By creating spaces where alumni feel represented, supported, and bonded through shared experiences, she is reshaping how institutions approach engagement. Her advice to professionals entering the field reflects that same clarity of purpose:

When values and mission align, advancement becomes more than a profession; it becomes work that builds enduring communities and legacies.

“Identify what your values are and match them to an institution that aligns with them.”