HSG Alumni Club Northern California
The establishment of the club
The beginnings of the HSG Alumni Club Northern California date back a couple of years. In the year 2001 the alumnus Bruno Schurter established a program for young graduates of the University of St. Gallen. Each year one recent graduate should be given the opportunity to spend some time in California to become acquainted with the local business culture. Together with other Swiss entrepreneurs, Bruno Schurter established the Swiss-California Foundation and teamed up with partners, such as the Sonoma County Economic Development Board, to offer an eight-month economic fellowship.
Today, each year, a new fellow spends the winter and spring in Santa Rosa, CA, one hour north of San Francisco. The fellow works on projects that promote the local economic development, conducts research and takes care of the daily business of the Swiss-California Foundation. From the outset, those graduates maintained contact to the local HSG Alumni. It was almost a tradition that the trainees of the Swiss-California Foundation invited the HSG Alumni to occasional meetings. The get-togethers were usually held in San Francisco or Santa Rosa. One met for dinner or a cosy gatherings with a few drinks. Considering the success of these informal meetings and the positive reactions the fellows received it was soon tried to reach out to all HSG alumni in the San Francisco area. Unfortunately, it turned out to be quite difficult to find them solely depending on mouth-to-mouth advertisment.
The solution was to establish an official HSG alumni club. So in early 2006 the "HSG Alumni Club Northern California" was born. Combining the Alumni organization's contacts and the contacts collected by the Swiss-California Foundation fellows turned out to be extremly helpful. Soon after its establishment, the club had welcomed more than 18 members. Of course, the HSG Alumni Club Northern California is always open for new members and would like to encourage HSG alumni in the San Francisco bay area to participte in our events, which will be held approximately every two months during the stay of a Swiss-California Foundation fellow. For further informations please send us an email at hsgalumni@swisscalifornia.com.
Planned events
For our event listing, please visit the official website of the HSG Alumni.
Past events (Highlights)
June 2006
Celebration of the establishment of the HSG Alumni Club Northern California at the residence of the Consul General of Switzerland, Jean-François Lichtenstern. View the pictures of this events here.
May 2008
Wine Tasting in Napa Valley. Read more in the Alma article.
Press articles and Press releases
April 2006
Article in the HSG Alumni magazine ALMA
Read the article published in the second issue of 2006 of the HSG Alumni magazine alma regarding the establishment of the HSG Alumni Club Northern California here (german).
Contact
President and contact of the HSG Alumni Club Northern California is the current fellow of the Swiss-California Foundation.
Swiss-California Foundation
HSG Alumni Club Northern California
401 College Ave., Suite D
Santa Rosa, CA 95401
Phone: +1 (707) 565 6456