At NSU, a Leaders Club has been established to unite alumni — representatives of business, science, and education

On September 5, the first meeting of the NSU Leaders Club was held at Novosibirsk State University — a new community of alumni uniting entrepreneurs, company executives, scientists, and technology creators. Participants signed a memorandum on the establishment of the club and also discussed its strategy, membership criteria, and main areas of activity.

The signatures at the bottom of the document were put by the rector of NSU Dmitry Pyshny, Chairman of the NSU Alumni Association “Union of NSU” Pavel Fyodorov and the president of the Endowment Fund of NSU Igor Kim. The club’s first meeting gathered about 60 alumni — business representatives, top managers, and company owners from various industries. The day’s program included a tour of the NSU campus, a business session with the club presentation and guest speakers, as well as a visit to the SCP “SKIF” and a cultural program.

The idea for the club emerged in the autumn of 2025 after studying the experience of alumni communities from MIPT, Stanford, Harvard, and other well-known global universities. The concept is based not only on creating a community with a trusted environment and a selected circle of participants but also on uniting the capabilities of science, education, and business to implement joint projects.

Nikita Makarenko, a graduate of the Economics Faculty of NSU in 2011, vice-president of JSC “Expobank” and the initiator of the project, explained that the idea of creating the club arose about a year ago.

— The university does not have a club for alumni who are leaders in their fields, be it business, science, or public administration. And I had an idea: why don’t we create a separate club within the Alumni Union that would consist of opinion leaders, active participants who would also be ambassadors of the university? The platform is needed not only for networking and exclusive events but also for collaboration with the university: joint projects, investments in the university, mutually beneficial cooperation., — said Nikita Makarenko.

According to him, about six months ago an organizing committee was formed, which included representatives from the NSU Union and the Endowment Fund. At the meeting on September 5, the participants discussed the international and Russian experience in creating such communities. The speakers were Elena Ivashentseva, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vostok Investment, Alexander Kurochkin, Managing Director of Vostok Investments, as well as Andrey Kuleshov, a member of the MIPT alumni association

— We discussed international and Russian experience. Colleagues from Moscow explained how the work is organized at Phystech, we presented international practice and outlined what we want to create at NSU. Thus, we combined Russian and international approaches., — noted Nikita Makarenko.

The overall experience of NSU shortens the distance between participants who in everyday life might spend a long time searching for a way to connect with each other. In the club, representatives of business, science, education, and government administration will be able to directly find the necessary expertise, partners, and solutions for specific tasks. At the same time, such an environment creates opportunities for the emergence of new projects at the intersection of different industries.

As noted by Pavel Fyodorov, chairman of the “NGU Union,” previously work with alumni often revolved around individual events: they would meet, recall the university, listen to a speech — and then disperse. Such formats are important in themselves, but the Leaders Club is about a more systematic approach. Its task is to unite alumni who have already established themselves in business, technology, science, media, and government, who are ready not just to attend events but to share their experience and participate in the development of the university. Here, a “leader” is not necessarily someone with a certain title or a prominent status: what matters more is professional path, expertise, willingness to take responsibility, and desire to share experience. For students, this is an opportunity to see not an abstract success story but concrete career trajectories.

According to him, NSU has a vast number of graduates with strong expertise, but so far their willingness to help the university and students is often implemented sporadically: someone spoke at an event, someone gave advice, someone took a student for an internship. The club allows to connect these opportunities and make the interaction clearer. The organizers highlight four areas of work: mentoring, educational and professional tracks, internships and career opportunities, as well as interaction among the graduates themselves—for joint projects and exchange of expertise. Among the main barriers, Pavel Fyodorov named time—graduates usually have very tight schedules, so participation must be as transparent as possible. Another barrier is that it is not always clear whom to contact within the university: if to get help each time one has to find the right person and rebuild the interaction anew, the initiative may fail. Here, the NSU Alumni Association can act as a connecting link.

— Ultimately, we want to arrive at a simple model: the graduate understands exactly how they can be useful and how much time it will take, the university understands whom to approach and with what request, and the student gains access to real experience and opportunities within the NSU professional community. This, in my view, is the main value of the Leaders Club: not merely in creating yet another community, but in getting the existing human capital of NSU to work more systematically—for the students, the university, and the graduates themselves., — concluded Pavel Fyodorov.

The idea of creating the club was supported by the rector of NSU, Dmitry Pyshny. According to him, it is important for the university to expand the circle of alumni who are ready to share their experience and participate in the development of NSU.

— We have come to the point of creating a community for genuine interaction. It is important for us to unite people who set the trajectory in their fields and to build a format that is useful to the entire university community. The club must develop alongside its members and be interesting to alumni, faculty, and future students, — emphasized Igor Kim, president of the Endowment Fund “Endowment NSU”.

An organizational headquarters has been formed to launch the club. The club will operate within the structure of the “NGU Union,” which currently unites more than 500 people. The organizers are currently considering about 70 potential participants for the new community. The club’s strategy, membership criteria, and main areas of work will be determined by the board of directors. It is assumed that it will include the 10 most active participants. One of the key criteria will be the willingness to invest time and expertise in the development of the community.

— All participants filled out questionnaires, each expressing a desire to join the club. It is important whether they are ready to invest their time. From the participants, we will determine who will enter the club’s board of directors — leaders who will shape the agenda, the rules of the game, and the admission criteria. These people are needed to later define the club’s strategy and the schedule of events and activities. This is just the beginning., — said Nikita Makarenko.

The primary task for the organizers will be to form the club’s council. The next meeting is planned to take place in Moscow before the end of 2026.