Reconnect
A member of the Class of 1997 identifies a former school and helps establish the initial connection.
WhatNext AfricaRaising a Worthy Successor Generation1997@30 · Global Reach-Back Legacy Initiative
Class of 1997 → Class of 2027
Thirty years later, we reach back.
In 2027, members of the Class of 1997 will mark thirty years since completing secondary school. That milestone gives us an opportunity to do more than remember where we came from: it gives us an opportunity to reach back to our former schools and help prepare the Class of 2027 for what comes next.
Turning an anniversary into a legacy.
The opportunity
An anniversary can do more than look back.
Thirty years is also thirty years of accumulated experience: lessons learned, mistakes made, opportunities discovered, relationships built, careers developed, enterprises created and perspectives gained. Meanwhile, another generation is preparing to take many of the first steps we once took.
What could the Class of 1997 do for the Class of 2027 in our former schools?
The answer will not be identical everywhere. The initiative begins with a connection, a conversation and an understanding of what would be useful, then develops an appropriate school-level pathway for support.
Why now?
Reach them before decisions become deadlines.
During the 2026/2027 academic session, members of the Class of 2027 will register for major examinations, consider courses and institutions, evaluate career and skills pathways and make choices that can influence what happens after secondary school. Beginning early creates room for reflection, exposure, preparation and better-informed decisions.
How 1997@30 works
From connection to action.
Understand
Relevant alumni and school stakeholders help identify where preparatory support can add value.
Reach Back
An appropriate engagement is developed from alumni experience, expertise, networks and resources.
Carry It Forward
What works is documented, strengthened and used to inform subsequent school engagements.
You do not need to arrive with a finished programme or a financial commitment. Start with the connection.
What reach-back can mean
Practical support, shaped by context.
Transition Preparation
Help students think intentionally about education, work, skills, enterprise and adulthood after secondary school.
Career & Pathway Exposure
Broaden students’ understanding of professional, vocational, educational and entrepreneurial pathways.
Experience Sharing
Pass forward practical lessons from people who stood at the same threshold thirty years earlier.
Mentoring & Guidance
Create appropriate opportunities for encouragement, guidance and continuing intergenerational support.
Networks & Opportunities
Help students understand where useful information, institutions, people and opportunities can be found.
Practical Support
Where appropriate, mobilise resources or interventions that remove genuine barriers to successful transition.
Start with your former school
You were there once.
Thirty years later, another generation is preparing to leave the same school and enter its own bigger world. If you completed secondary school in 1997, you can help open the first door.
Not Class of 1997?
You can still help make the connection.
You may know a member of the Class of 1997, have a relationship with an alumni association, represent a school, work within education, or simply be able to make a useful introduction. Sometimes the most important contribution is opening the right door.
Help make a connectionFrom one school to many
One generation reaching back to another.
One alumnus can begin one conversation. One conversation can reopen one school relationship. One school relationship can create a meaningful intervention. Successful interventions can be documented, improved and replicated. The immediate focus is the Class of 1997 → Class of 2027; the larger possibility is a repeatable culture of intergenerational support.
Thirty years later, what will we pass forward?
Our anniversary gives us an opportunity not only to remember our journey, but also to strengthen theirs.
Start with your former school