June VFA Newsletter: New Alumni Coordinators, Status Update on VFACC, VFA 2.0 Updates
Plus a Fellow-founded beauty company!
Hello fellow Fellows! Big news here is that the VFA Community Collective (VFACC) has decided to give the Yang money promised to us for Fellow community initiatives to Eileen’s VFA 2.0 with the express purpose of alumni projects, including by hiring two part-time contractors — Ben Weinberg (‘18) and Akhil Aniff (‘18)! More in 1A. I’ve also written two detailed VFACC status updates: one is an overview/logistics (1B), and the other is a personal, comprehensive reflection (4B). Also, the this is your last chance to get in the new Fellows Slack (1C), VFA 2.0 continues onwards including with a job pilot (section 2), people are hiring (3) Preeti Naik (‘22) launched a beauty brand (4A). More on all of that below.
Sending good vibes,
Amanda Tien (2015, Providence and New Orleans)
Table of Contents
Critical Updates & Key Asks
Big News: VFA 2.0 Alumni Coordinators
VFA Community Collective: Status Update - Not Dead, but Dormant
Last Chance for New Slack
Eileen Lee is now a single(ish)-channel guest in the VFA Fellows Slack — only in #jobs-opportunities and #vfa-future
VFA 2.0 Updates
Job Pilot Update from VFA 2.0/Eileen Lee
2.0 Info Sessions on June 16 and June 23
Support VFA 2.0 — with $$$ and/or time! Now starting to plan a 2026 Fellowship
Jobs
Bulletin Board
Beauty Brand Launch of The People of Earth Co — by Preeti Naik (‘22)
VFA Community Collective: A Long Note About the Past, Present, and Future of the VFACC from Amanda Tien (‘15)
Submit a Blurb for Next Time by July 9
1. Critical Updates & Key Asks
1A. Big News: VFA 2.0 Alumni Coordinators
Thank you to all of those who put in responses to the RFP! After careful consideration, the VFA Community Collective (VFACC) Consultant Board — Connie Bowen (‘16), Cameron Champion ('20), and Gabi Rudnick ('23) — have decided to select Ben Weinberg ('18) and Akhil Aniff (‘18) to collaborate on furthering the work of VFACC. After much deliberation, with weigh-in from other members of VFACC and with Eileen, the Consultant Board decided that it makes the most sense to deliver the funds that Andrew Yang had promised to VFACC* directly to Eileen Lee's VFA 2.0 initiative — with the express purpose of being used for building for and engaging the alumni community, including to compensate Ben and Akhil as Alumni Engagement Coordinators. They are expected to start in the coming weeks as the details of their responsibilities are defined; they will be managed and overseen by Eileen and VFA 2.0. VFACC* efforts and volunteers may continue to build in tandem or separately from VFA 2.0. Stay tuned for more from your VFA 2.0 Alumni Engagement Coordinators soon!
*There are two updates about the status of VFACC in section 1B and 4B.
1B. VFA Community Collective: Status Update - Not Dead, but Dormant
Via Amanda Tien (2015, Providence & New Orleans)
Over the past few months, VFACC* has been winding down. We’ve done our job, and we’re proud of it! We created opportunity for ourselves and others. Value creation is how we measured achievement.
The VFA Community Collective was always meant to be a short-term, volunteer-driven solution to the chaos in the wake of VFA's closure with the purpose of 1) creating support structures for 2024 Fellows (and some 2023 Fellows) which included job-sourcing, mentorship, the crowd-funding campaign, the Skillshare series, and more, and 2) establishing new modes of communication and connection for the entire alumni network (such as the newsletter, updating the old Slack, now creating the new Slack, the Notion, the Celebration of Life event, the office hours, St. Louis Reunion, and more).
Moving forward -- if you want to build things for the VFA community, we encourage you to to support Eileen Lee’s vision of VFA 2.0 (see 2c below). Alternatively, you can still join us in #vfacc-community-collective in the New Slack but know that, just like in the early days of VFACC and any startup, you'll need to take initiative and lead the way.
VFACC project updates: This newsletter will continue at least through August 2025.* The Notion (tinyurl.com/VFANotion) still has many old Training Camp and Skillshare resources and may be updated by VFA 2.0 moving forward. The New Fellows Slack is alive and well (see 1C if you need an invite).
*For a longer message from Amanda Tien about VFACC, please see Bulletin Board #4b.
1C. Last Chance for New Slack
All New Slack invites were sent out a few months ago. First, check your spam folder or old inbox and try it. If your link has expired, please fill out this form by June 20. After that date, there are no guarantees that we will be monitoring that form (we’ll try our best but hey we’re all busy) … so if you’ve been slacking on Slack, get on it ASAP.
1D. Eileen Lee is now a single(ish)-channel guest in the VFA Fellows Slack — only in #jobs-opportunities and #vfa-future
New VFA 2.0 Alumni Engagement Coordinator Ben Weinberg (‘18) invited Eileen Lee to be a guest in #jobs-opportunities and #vfa-future to help empower her for the job pilot and in building VFA 2.0. (Slack administrators do not plan to open this space up to any other past team members; this space is about the future.) You can now Slack Eileen Lee directly. If you have any feedback about this decision, please DM Ben Weinberg (‘18) on the new Slack.
2. VFA 2.0 Updates
2a. Job Pilot Update from VFA 2.0/Eileen Lee
There are over 50 past VFA Fellows actively searching for roles who have engaged in the Job Pilot Program. This Fellow CRM Notion features profiles of VFA Fellows looking for roles; please take (2) minutes to skim and see if there’s anyone you can make a connection for. Or, if you’re hiring, check out these profiles!
If you are job seeking and want to be added to the pilot, please fill out this form.
If you are hiring, please email Eileen Lee (lee.eileen@gmail.com; or DM her in the New Slack) with the subject line “VFA 2.0 - Job Pilot - I’m Hiring”
If you are interested in helping create expedited back end data systems to automate this, we’d love your help! Please reach out to Eileen Lee (lee.eileen@gmail.com; or DM her in the New Slack) with subject line “VFA 2.0 - Job Pilot - Data Automation Help”
2b. 2.0 Info Sessions on June 16 and June 23
Eileen has recently gone full-time on VFA 2.0! Learn more about her vision for a 2026 Fellowship and/or get involved at one of these sessions:
Mon, June 16 - 12:00 – 1:00pm ET - Gcal Event
Mon, June 23 - 2:30 – 3:30pm ET - Gcal Event
2c. Support VFA 2.0 — with $$$ and/or time! Now starting to plan a 2026 Fellowship
Eileen has begun the initial planning and design phases for a 2026 Fellowship. Funds, as we all know, are critical to getting any startup or project going. (To get a sense of her vision, please attend one of the info sessions highlighted above.)
Eileen is doing the work, building the thing, and making stuff happen. You can donate (tax deductible!) to Eileen’s VFA 2.0 project here. Even $10/a month is great and shows your support, but of course, if you can give more, all the better.
If you are interested in building things for the VFA community, please reach out to Eileen at lee.eileen@gmail.com with the subject line: “VFA 2.0 -- Hi from [Your Name]” OR DM her in the new Slack! Please tell her about what expertise you might be able to lend. Particularly seeking support with program development, partnership building, nonprofit fundraising, community building (mentorships!), event planning. Many past VFACC volunteers have already been engaging with Eileen’s VFA 2.0.
PS: If you have experience with handling crypto donations, Eileen would love your help in getting that set up!
3. Jobs and Opportunities
3a. Job Pilot Update from VFA 2.0/Eileen Lee
Please see the job pilot update in 2a for candidates, sharing opportunities, and more.
3b. Jobs from the New Slack
All of these roles are in the VFA Slack in #jobs-opportunities — if you’re interested, join the new Slack and follow-up with individuals who posted the roles!
Remote Product Onboarding Manager and Customer Success Manager at a private real estate co
Web Performance Manager and Lifecycle Manager at a tech stock company
Sales and Business Development Manager at a business/financial company
Account Executive at an AI company
Looking for a freelance data visualization specialist
Product Manager in NYC at a sustainability company
and more!
4. Bulletin Board
4a. Beauty Brand Launch! @thepeopleofearthco by Preeti Naik (‘22)
Via Preeti Naik (‘22, Detroit/Ann Arbor)
Hello ✨fellow fellows✨! I have officially launched my sustainability, inclusivity, and artistry focused independent/ self funded beauty brand: The People of Earth! I am launching with Face Base, a cream complexion product that comes in 72 shades, with 6 undertones at 12 depth levels PLUS 5 shade adjusters.
If you love inclusive beauty, know someone who does, or just want to support the work and follow along, check out the instagram page, give it a follow, and share with anyone who loves beauty! https://www.instagram.com/thepeopleofearthco/
4b. VFA Community Collective: A Long Note About the Past, Present, and Future of the VFACC from Amanda Tien (‘15)
Via Amanda Tien (2015, Providence & New Orleans)
This is a much more personal, more detailed, more behind-the-scenes blurb about VFACC and my involvement with the VFA community. As I said in the blurb above at 1B, the VFA Community Collective was always meant to be a short-term, volunteer-driven solution to the chaos in the wake of VFA's closure, and I am so incredibly grateful and proud of what we did.
From August until November, we met and worked actively on a weekly basis. It was really cool tbh, and also, really tiring! We were doing so much stuff! We came up with a quick name as a way to handle the closure of the VFA Alumni Advisory Board -- we built the tracks as we were running the train. We created structures, systems, and communities. We matched people with mentors, got people jobs, introduced Fellows to other Fellows for the first time, salvaged resources, made connections, planned events, and dreamed. In November 2024, I hosted a Future of VFA Town Hall which was designed to be about volunteer-driven ideas for the future of our community. While it was that, it also ended up inviting a lot of other new conversations that changed the game --- Andrew Yang offered several thousands of dollars to support VFACC, Eileen Lee decided to officially start pursuing VFA 2.0, and the VFA Board of Directors finally began to talk (and then, later, stopped talking) to me and other volunteers.
From then onwards, VFACC started to shift, and that is totally okay. We all know that, from Startup Land, that creating things has phases.We moved our meetings from weekly to biweekly, and then, monthly with asynchronous weekly check-ins. Questions came up in informal and formal conversations... What should we spend Yang’s money on? How can we even receive it as a tax-deductible donation? Will we get paid? CAN we get paid? SHOULD we get paid? What is VFA 2.0 and how is that related to VFACC? Should we not bother to do things with VFACC if Eileen is going to do them with VFA 2.0? Wouldn't she be able to do it better, with structure and funding? What the heck is happening with VFA-the-entity?!
Volunteers got burnt out and wanted a break during holidays. When we returned, those questions ended up stalling many of our initiatives, causing many people to enter an indefinite holding pattern. By the end of Q1 2025, in response to shifting interest and volunteer availability, we started to wind down regular operations of VFACC, and the group transitioned into more of an ad hoc initiative, especially pursuing the potential Yang money. Our working channel continued to grow quieter. VFACC isn’t dead, but it’s dormant, and that’s fine. Again, I think we did what we were trying to do -- and more.
I unexpectedly became a sort of de facto leader in this project, driven largely through the joy and energy of building with other people. My favorite parts of VFACC were August through November --- hectic, exhausting months of texting, Slacking, emailing, Zooming as we designed things, made things, broke things, fixed things. It was so fun. It was the VFA I remembered. We were creating value for ourselves and others. I'm so proud of all the work we did. Thank you to everyone who volunteered with VFACC and/or Venmo’d me money to help with random things (lanyards and workshop materials for Reunion! A Zoom account!) in big and small ways, including but not limited to: Akhil Aniff (‘18), Anand Macherla (‘18), Aurorah Arndt (‘24), Bailey "Bee" Payne (née Golding) (‘24), Ben Rothschild (‘23), Ben Weinberg (‘18), Brenden Watson (‘23), Briggs Uhler (‘23), Caitlin Jones (‘19), Cameron Champion (‘20), Connie Bowen (‘16), Curtis Chou (‘24), Emily Sjoberg (‘22), Erin Lee (‘23), Ethan Carlson (‘12), Evan Fried (‘16), Gabriella "Gabi" Rudnick (‘23), Jad Hamdan (‘21), Jessika "Jess" Agyepong (‘23), Jose Huerta (‘24), Julie Bautista (‘24), Julia Wang (‘17), Katie Bloom (VFA HQ 2014-2018), Mark Bennett (‘15), Micah Leinbach (‘18), Muhan Zhang (‘15), Naabia Romain (‘21), Nate Taminger (‘22), Nathan Cheng (‘23), Reagan Cline (‘18), Sarah Tatarski (‘22), Sean Lane (‘12), Stephanie Guzmán (‘18), Stephen Kita (‘16), Veronica Bido (‘23). And there are hundreds more of people who volunteered to be mentors, donated to the GoFundMe, coordinated with press, shared ideas, attended virtual and in-person events, and planned dope in-person events -- thank you to everyone who worked on the St. Louis Reunion with me and Connie Bowen (‘16); looking at the Nov 2024 RIP VFA party planners Brooks Sime (‘16), Alyssa Dizon (‘16), Caitlin Morelli (‘16); the Bay Area Friendsgiving and hiking crews led by Curtis Chou (‘24), Angeline Fung (‘24), and Mark Bennet (‘15), amongst others; the Nov 2024 Bamasgiving Crew of Cameron Champion (‘20) and Tyler Jacobson (‘22), amongst others; and Emily Sjoberg (‘22) and Simrat Oberoi (‘23) planning Reunion/Reunion x Oktoburghfest (Sept 26-28 in Pittsburgh); the NYC co-working sessions and Philly family dinner series.. There is so much that our community can do -- and there’s more still possible.
As shared earlier in this newsletter, Ben and Akhil will be working with Eileen as Alumni Engagement Coordinators in VFA 2.0. Ben and Akhil have been valuable parts of the volunteer community, and I’m excited to see what they’ll be able to do with Eileen in this new role. Eileen, Ben, and Akhil will be figuring out the details of what this role means, but the Newsletter and Slack have already come up as potential places for them to take lead on. I won’t be disappearing -- but, candidly, I am looking forward to doing less :) What this looks like:
1) The Newsletter -- when I started the newsletter, I pledged to do it monthly for a year post shut-down. I told Eileen, Ben, and Akhil that I would be happy to continue to volunteer doing the newsletter until September, or I'd be happy to transition it to VFA 2.0 and Ben and Akhil as early as next month.
2) The New Slack - For now, I’m still the lead admin on the New Fellow Slack with moderator help from Julia Wang ('17) and Micah Leinbach ('17), though I will add Ben and Akhil in the coming weeks and onboard them as well. Good news is that the new Slack is alive and well and really doesn’t need that much maintenance now :)
3) Onboarding - I will be helping onboard Ben and Akhil (who have both already been volunteers!) by trying to download as much community knowledge I have with them, including context on projects like the VFA Notion and the email accounts.
4) Advising - Since January, I’ve been a volunteer on an Alumni Advisory Board for Eileen’s VFA 2.0. We have been meeting monthly and supporting VFA 2.0, weighing in on programs, vision, strategy, and more; Eileen is highly committed to having Fellows be a core part of the design and leadership for VFA 2.0, which I deeply admire and appreciate. I’ve also been on a quarterly Advisory Council for VFA 2.0, and I will be transitioning to just the quarterly one soon.
If you'd like to stay connected with me as an individual (and not just this person sending you random ass VFA shit lol), you can catch me in the New Fellows Slack, on LinkedIn here, on Instagram here (I'm not that active), or on my personal Substack (I'm a writer, when I’m not doing freelance marketing strategy and web+ graphic design… all of which you can learn more about here: https://www.amandatien.com/
In closing… There is no courage without risk. Value creation is how I measure achievement. I will act with integrity in all things. I will create opportunity for myself and others. My career is a choice that indicates my values.
Thank you for putting your trust in me, and I look forward to the future of our community.
With love,
Amanda Tien
5. Submit a Blurb for Next Time by July 9
The next newsletter will be on Thursday July 10, 2025 (delayed one week for the holiday). Submit your blurb here (it’s also linked on the homepage of the newsletter) any time in the day/evening on Weds July 9.
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