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Q&A With Incoming FOC President, Hannah Ko

Lillian Trimble, Communication Class of 2023, College of Arts
and Sciences Ambassador

May 9, 2022

What’s going on? Give us a personal update!
My husband and I are relocating to Tucson, Arizona at the end of May, which means a transition in both our personal and professional lives! After a fruitful 7-year career in event management at the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Engineering and Applied Science, I’m sad to part ways with my UC community, but excited to see what’s next! Having both grown up in Southeast Asia, we’re especially keen on the 24/7 warmth (ahem, heat) we’re about to get.

How will your move impact your presidency?
With my relocation, the opportunities to engage with the board and alumni community in person could be hard to come by, but I am committed to this role and am confident in our board’s ability to leverage digital tools to connect and work together to fulfil our board mission. The pandemic gave us an opportunity to engage alumni locally and out-of-state for the past two years, and this change is here to stay.

What are your goals for FOC?
The board’s goal for this term is to learn about our alumni community – who they are, where they are located, and what stages of career they are in – to provide resources that benefit alumni in different stages of their career. I’d also like Friends of Communication to inspire conversations that enhance what we think about communication and the impact it creates for our professional careers. To do that, we need to hear the personal, meaningful stories from our alumni from all walks of life and professional industries.

Can you provide a board update?
After 7 years of operation, the FOC has assessed and refined our board mission to focus efforts for growth. Our updated mission is trifold – 1) to promote the success of UC Communication alumni; 2) to provide professional development resources and opportunities to connect; and 3) to work with the UC Arts and Sciences (A&S) alumni association and development office to build support for scholarship and other endeavors of the school.

With this update in the mission statement and by-laws comes an adjustment to the board structure as well; in addition to the executive board, we’ve narrowed the team down to three council units to perform the core activities of the board – 1) student engagement; 2) marketing and communications; and 3) professional development.

These adjustments will allow the board to leverage our talent and resources while staying focused on our mission.

Talk about any upcoming plans going into the new year.
The mentorship program has been a signature program at FOC, and we will continue to strengthen it as we run it for the seventh year. We will also focus on providing professional development resources to our alumni as part of our updated mission.

Is there anything else you’d like to say?
A shout out to Kevin Must, our current president who’s been key to the board’s operations and success. Kevin led the board all while managing the many changes he’s had at work these past couple of years, and we thank him for his commitment to this team!

To our existing alumni – thank you to many of you who’ve shared your stories with us. We are always looking to hear from more of you about your journeys – the ups, the downs, and everything in-between. There is so much we can learn from one another, so let Friends of Communication be a bridge for you to do so.

To our graduating seniors about to join the alumni community, congratulations, and welcome!

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