Last month, Island School alumni gathered virtually to share and participate in our inaugural Alumni Summit. Speakers represented classes from Fall 1999 to Spring 2023, with alumni, former faculty and staff, and current and former parents of Island School Students in attendance. If you weren’t able to make it, continue reading for a recap and video recordings of the event.

Watch the first-annual Alumni Summit here.

Order of events

The summit kicked off with a warm welcome from our fearless founder, Chris Maxey, alumnae and Executive Director of Cape Eleuthera Foundation, Taylor Hoffman (S06), and Alumni Relations Manager, Megan Platt. 

The evening then moved into breakout sessions, where attendees could choose from a variety of topics and alumni speakers. The breakout sessions were as follows:

Breakout Session #1

• Media and Storytelling with Catherine Argyrople S14
• Young Alumni Effecting Change: Laya Vemmata Gopi ST23, Ila Dohrmann S23, Xander Farrington S23

Breakout Session #2

• Machine Learning and the Environment: Megs Malpani S13
• From Alumni to IS Employee: Annika Goldman S16, Leighton Graham S18

Breakout Session #3

• Eleuthera and The Bahamas: Bradley Watson F08
• Sustainable Business and Entrepreneurship: Devin Gilmartin F14

Following the breakout sessions, all attendees gathered back together to hear from our keynote speaker, Lee Taylor F99. Lee is the 2024 recipient of the Founders Alumni Award and we were thrilled to hear about his journey since The Island School and how he was inspired to start his own business in the clean energy sector. 

Everyone then enjoyed a glimpse into the current daily life of a Semester student with a video by Ezra McGinley-Smith S24. 

Finally, we had some closing remarks from Brian Lee and Bradley Watson about friendship, their journeys since their semesters, and how the Alumni Summit came to fruition. It was an incredible evening and the collective energy of The Island School community was palpable even through a screen. We hope you’ll be able to join us for future virtual events!