Marie Hadar-Harrison, MS '20

Sports Product Management Network President

What made you want to start the Sports Product Management (SPM) Alumni Network?
Collectively our Alumni decided to start the SPM network and all I did was push it over the finish line. When we think about our SPM program, it is entirely centralized in the sporting goods industry. That can be daunting, so it was important for us to stay connected. We knew that we were going to share niche experiences and obstacles that we could all relate to. We wanted to start the network so that there was always a place to be supported. A lot of us have found jobs and life-long friendships from our relationships with our classmates, professors, and alumni-mentors in our own graduating class, and we wanted to have that with other graduates before and after us.

What are you proud of that your group has done and what are you looking forward to?
This being the first year SPM has had an alumni board there was a lot of learning on the way and we had some great virtual networking events. I'm very excited for what's to come as we are starting to work through building out a network system for current SPM students and alumni to connect and introduce our new alumni coming this spring. Secondly, we are starting to gather plans for (hopefully) an in-person event in the summer/fall for our alumni where we can kick back and catch-up.

Is there anything else you want to share with other alumni volunteers?
SPM alumni have always been interested in connecting outside our program so if there's any board members out there that want to partner up for an event let us know! Check out our Sports Product Management Alumni Network page to connect or email me.