Diego Mandelbaum: Discovering the rewards of staying involved with UBC

When you graduate from UBC, you are part of a community — and for Diego Mandelbaum (BASc’11), volunteering for alumni UBC helped him connect with this community in a meaningful way.

Mandelbaum began his UBC journey in 2007 at the then–newly established Okanagan campus. As a Kelowna local, he was drawn to the idea of continuing his education near the mountains and lakes he grew up with, and was among the second graduating class of UBC Okanagan’s Bachelor of Applied Science program, with a major in Mechanical Engineering.

Although he eventually moved to Toronto, where he is now the Senior Vice-President, Development, for Creative Energy, he wanted to remain connected to his UBC community.

“As an alum working in advancing sustainable energy solutions, I’ve always been interested in UBC’s role as a steward of the environment,” Mandelbaum says. “So when my sister [Laura Mandelbaum (BA’08)], who served on the alumni UBC Advisory Council before me, told me about the meetings and work they did, it sounded like a great opportunity to get involved.”

Mandelbaum spent four years on the council representing alumni in discussions that helped shape the future of the university.

“The council is like a test audience for a new show,” he says. “As alumni UBC works through their goals and mandate of connecting alumni to each other and to the university, council members are presented with ideas, projects, and initiatives, and then give feedback. It’s like the ‘sounding board’ for the alumni community.”

He continues to highly regard his time on the council.

“I felt privileged to work alongside some really interesting people from all walks of life — from alumni to academics to industry leaders,” he says.

Participating in the Advisory Council also allowed Mandelbaum to mentor students through a partner program with UBC’s Student Alumni Council, which he found very rewarding.

When Carolyn Huang was paired with Mandelbaum as her mentor, she was in her second year of her undergraduate degree in computer science and economics, and was unsure about her future career goals.

“Diego helped me realize I didn’t need to have everything figured out by year two,” Huang says. “He encouraged me to question myself, and to identify my personal strengths and weaknesses.”

As the two worked together, Mandelbaum pointed Huang to some useful resources, including personality assessment tools to help her better understand her traits and preferences.

“Now, over a year later and four internships under my belt, including stints in Silicon Valley and on Wall Street, I can safely say that learning more about my strengths and weaknesses has been invaluable preparation for the working world,” Huang says.

Energized by his ability to help students and advance important work at UBC, Mandelbaum was keen to continue to volunteer with alumni UBC.

In 2023, he was asked to join the alumni UBC Board of Directors, to help provide strategic direction and governance. He says his involvement with alumni UBC has opened his eyes to the amazing teaching, research, and philanthropic work at UBC’s Vancouver and Okanagan campuses, and hopes the industry lens he brings to the board will be valuable.

Reflecting on his volunteer work for alumni UBC, Mandelbaum remains struck by the strong sense of community that he experienced. He continues to value the peer connections and relationships he forged nearly five years ago.

“Whether you’re new to an industry, new to a city, want to chat, meet new peers, or extend your network, there is an amazing tie between UBC alumni that binds us together. It’s a lifelong community, and I’m grateful to have connected to so many great people through my involvement with alumni UBC.”

Giving back to his UBC community has been more rewarding than Mandelbaum could have ever imagined.

“Over the years, and beyond my work with alumni UBC, I’ve found a few ways to volunteer for UBC, like participating on the UBC Toronto Leadership Committee and the Faculty of Applied Science Industry Committee at UBC Okanagan,” he explains. “I encourage other UBC alumni to find ways to get involved, and to tap into this fantastic community.”