Buffalo State alumni networking event offers connection and career guidance

More than 50 current Buffalo State students and alumni gathered in the Jacqueline Vito LoRusso Alumni & Visitor Center on March 20 for “Kickstart Your Career,” a curated networking event designed to help propel professional journeys. 

For just $5 a person, attendees had the opportunity to listen to an alumni career panel; get career advice from Buffalo State’s Career and Professional Education Center, tips on creating and improving LinkedIn profiles, and a professional headshot; enjoy refreshments; and, perhaps most importantly, make connections with fellow Buffalo State students and alumni.

The alumni career panel speakers, Michelle Sawyers, ’09, ’13, president and CEO at the YWCA of Western New York; Marc Braun, ’17, human resources business partner at Superior Lubricants Company, Inc.; and Michelle Plesh, ’89, lecturer for the Buffalo State Business Department and director of human resources and organizational development at Excelsior Orthopaedics; shared their professional journeys and offered insights that emphasized how Buffalo State set them up for success.

“Events like this bring students and alumni together, creating valuable networking opportunities to grow their connections, gain career insights, and put their best professional foot forward,” said Katelyn Brickhouse, director of the Alumni Engagement Office. “They prepare our students for their next steps after Buffalo State and remind alumni they are always welcome back.”

Kickstart Your Career was cosponsored by the Alumni Engagement Office and the Career and Professional Education Center.

Photo by Jesse Steffan-Colucci, Buffalo State photographer.