About the CAA

About the Columbia Alumni Association (CAA)

The Columbia Alumni Association's (CAA) mission is to cultivate a global community of Columbia alums, students, faculty, and staff to explore interests, exchange ideas, and take actions that enrich one another, the University, and the world.

The CAA's vision statement is: Where every Columbian can build, belong and go beyond.

The CAA's purpose is to deepen connections, volunteerism, giving, and inclusivity for every Columbian, everywhere.

Read the full list of the Columbia Alumni Association Bylaws here.

The CAA Code of Conduct has been developed to help ensure that the alumni volunteer experiences are meaningful, productive, and safe for all participants. Read the full text of the Code of Conduct here. 

Developed by the Task Force on Belonging, the Community Standard helps define the environment expected when engaging with the alumni community and the standard to which we hope all Columbians aspire.

Columbia Alumni Association (CAA) Community Standard

The Columbia Alumni Association (CAA) commits to supporting and maintaining an accessible and visible community where diversity of identity and thought is respected and celebrated. The participants in all CAA programs, activities, and volunteer opportunities, are charged with creating environments where alumni, students, families, faculty, staff, and friends of the University treat each individual and group with collegiality, inclusivity, and respect.

The CAA Board is the governing body of the CAA and seeks to keep alumni connected to the University and its Schools. A number of trustees serve on the board, including current Chair Lisa Carnoy ’89CC

There is representation from each of the Schools on the Board, and there are term limits and a rotation process to guarantee a good cross-section of alumni leaders at all times. Meet the CAA Board.

Lisa Carnoy ’89CC

Lisa is a seasoned financial executive who was most recently a partner and managing director of AlixPartners, serving as Chief Financial Officer and Head of Operations. She stepped down from the CFO role last fall to lead the search for Columbia's president and is now in transition. This spring, she expects to join two corporate boards.  Lisa has been engaged at Columbia since graduating from the College. She is Chair Emerita of the University Trustees and served as a member of the Columbia College Alumni Association Board and its Board of Visitors, where she was vice-chair. Lisa continues to serve on the University's Athletics Leadership Council.

In addition, Lisa has also co-chaired several Columbia Campaigns including Core to Commencement and the Columbia Commitment. Lisa was recognized with the John Jay Award, Hamilton Award, and Alumni Medal. Lisa has been a passionate advocate for diversity, co-founding several organizations including the Women's Leadership Council at Bank of America and the Women's Leadership Council for Athletics and Dean's Advisory Council at Columbia. Lisa earned her BA cum laude from Columbia and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She and her husband David, a graduate of Columbia's School of the Arts, live on the Upper West Side with their four children. They are parents to a Class of '26 Columbia undergrad. 

Columbia Volunteer Positions:
Chair Emerita of the University Trustees, Columbia College Alumni Association Board Member and Board of Visitors Vice-chair, University's Athletics Leadership Council

Committees provide the infrastructure to support CAA alumni leaders and clubs with the resources needed to engage with Columbians around the world. There are committees that address Columbia Alumni Leaders Weekend planning, associations and clubs, digital marketing, programming, honors and prizes, recent alumni, and student relations.
 

Awards

Alumni Medalists are recognized for building Columbia's community—whether regionally, online, in specific Schools, or in cross-campus initiatives. Recipients are honored at University Commencement and at the Alumni Medalists Gala during Columbia Alumni Leaders Weekend. Learn more about the 2023 Alumni Medalists through their bios.

Looking for more information on the Medalists? You can: 

Fill out a nomination form online. You will be asked to provide information about the positions your candidate has held, when the positions were held, references, and a brief explanation of the nomination.

In 2016, the Columbia University Trustees and the CAA established The Campbell Award, which is presented to a graduating student at each School who shows exceptional leadership and Columbia spirit as exemplified by the late Bill Campbell '62CC, '64TC, Chair Emeritus, University Trustee and CAA co-founder. Meet the 2023 recipients.