When I joined the Johns Hopkins Alumni Association in 2022, the organization was finding its footing again. In-person events were coming back after two years of pandemic cancellations, but our online presence had gone quiet in the meantime. Alumni who had once shown up for events weren't connecting with content the way they used to, and we needed to meet them where they were before we could bring them back together in person.

I knew that rebuilding engagement wasn't just about posting more. It was about posting with purpose: finding the stories that alumni actually wanted to share, and showing up consistently on the platforms where they spent their time.

What I focused on

• Quality storytelling: I shifted from volume to resonance, prioritizing content that reflected real alumni experiences and made people feel seen by their community.

• Platform-specific strategy: Rather than cross-posting the same content everywhere, I developed tailored approaches for each channel so that engagement felt native and intentional.

• Alumni-driven content: I brought alumni voices into the content mix, which made the community feel less like a broadcast and more like an actual conversation.

Instagram followers grew by nearly 57 percent, Facebook engagement jumped 78.5 percent despite posting less, and overall engagement across platforms more than doubled. Alumni didn't just come back to events; they reconnected online, too. By the end, we had something stronger than what existed before: a hybrid community that was active both in person and on the feed.