By Darryl Auguste, YC ’09 — Chair, Communications
We’ve launched a new website at yaleblackalumni.com. This post is the tour: what we built, why we built it, and how to use it. It’s also the link we’ll be sending from now on whenever someone asks what YBAA is up to.
Why we did it
YBAA came back before we updated the website.
Over the past few years we reincorporated, secured 501(c)(3) status, seated a new national board, and supported chapters gathering in nine cities. YAA recognized that revitalization with an Excellence Award last year. From the outside, though, it was only ever visible in our newsletters and social posts.
Meanwhile, the questions we hear most are the simplest ones. Am I a member? Is there a chapter near me? What’s happening next month? How do I give? Who do I send an announcement to? The answers were scattered across an unmanaged website, a newsletter that may never have reached your inbox, and a few volunteers’ email threads. If you wanted to help, you had to know exactly who to ask.
We wanted one address that answers all of it — for the alum who graduated in 1974, the one who graduated in May, and the admitted student’s family looking us up tonight.
What we did
We redesigned the public site from scratch, and we’ve made it much easier to manage going forward. A few things worth knowing about how it works:
- Events are live, not typed in. When a chapter posts an event, it shows up on the site automatically — on the homepage, on the Events page, and on that chapter’s card.
- Your login still lives on the Member Portal. As before, anything gated sits behind your YAA account, because that’s where those accounts are provisioned. The public side of the site stays open to everyone.
- Every newsletter is archived. If you missed an issue, or you’re new here, you can read straight back through them.
- Our history is written down. For the first time, YBAA’s founding, its quiet years, and its relaunch are documented in one place, with the founding roster and our sources.
A tour, and how to use it
Chapters is where most people should start. Nine chapters are fully active — Atlanta, Bay Area, Boston, Chicago, DMV, Los Angeles, New Haven, New York, and Philadelphia — with Memphis and others gaining momentum. Find your city, see who leads it, email them directly, and check what they have scheduled.
Events shows everything coming up across YBAA in one list, plus what we’ve recently held. If nothing’s near you yet, that’s usually a sign your city needs a volunteer more than it needs a calendar.
Get Involved is the honest answer to “how can I help?” There are six paths, from joining a committee to serving on the board, and a short form to tell us what you’re interested in. There’s also an FAQ that answers the membership question directly: if you’re a Black alum of Yale College or of Yale’s graduate and professional schools, you’re already a member. It’s free and there’s nothing to sign.
Blog is where this post lives, along with our newsletter archive and pieces from members.
Leadership introduces the board. Select anyone to see their bio, their committees, and where they are.
History is the long story, told properly, with a timeline you can read in about ten seconds.
The House explains something we get asked about constantly: how YBAA relates to the Afro-American Cultural Center. We’re the alumni association, The House serves students on campus, and that page collects the real ways to support their work.
Donate handles one-time, monthly, and annual gifts. We’re a 501(c)(3), so your gift is tax-deductible, and the page is specific about what different amounts actually pay for.
Member Portal, linked in the top right of every page, is the members-only side: the YBAA directory, the WhatsApp invite, the photo repository, and the forms for submitting an event or an announcement. Sign in with your YAA account.
What now?
This is our digital home going forward, and it should keep changing.
Three things you can do today:
- Update your YAA profile. It’s how our email finds you, and it takes two minutes. There’s a link at the very top of every page on the site.
- Join the WhatsApp community. More than 1,000 members are already there, across 40+ channels organized by city, school, profession, and interest.
- Send us something. A chapter recap, a professional milestone, a photo, an announcement, an opportunity worth sharing — or a blog post you want to write. The forms are on the Member Portal, behind your YAA login. We’ll publish it.
And tell us what’s missing. If a page is confusing, a link is broken, a chapter’s details are wrong, or your name or class year is off, we want to hear it. Suggestions for what belongs here next are just as welcome as corrections.
YBAA is entirely volunteer-led, which means this site is only ever as complete as our community makes it. It’s our collective home, and it’s built to grow. Come help us fill it.
Reach us any time at ybaa@aya.yale.edu.