Resources for HBS clubs and other peer groups

Helping HBS alumni and others experience the value and power of forum in their lives

The seed of Alumni Forum Services was planted in 2006 when Bob Halperin became the Chief Education Officer of Young Presidents Organization, an international association of CEOs. Shortly after joining YPO’s senior management team, Bob was invited to attend a moderator training program, to learn how to participate in and lead YPO forums.  
After that experience, Bob was eager to join a YPO forum, but wasn’t eligible because he was on the staff, not a YPO member.

That was the spark: Why not create YPO-style forums for the HBS community so Bob and his fellow alumni could benefit from a similar peer learning experience?

To realize that vision, Bob partnered with Mo Fathelbab, an experienced YPO forum facilitator, to found Alumni Forum Services. From the beginning, AFS’s mission has been to help HBS alumni (and many others) experience the value and power of forum in their lives.
Supported by AFS, the HBS program (under the auspices of local clubs) began in 2009 with one forum in Boston (of which Bob was a founding member), and has expanded to eleven HBS clubs across the US, Canada, and Singapore. Those clubs have launched over 75 forums, and hundreds of HBS alumni have benefitted from the unique power of forum. Bob shared the story of how his YPO experience led him to create the HBS forum program at his last MBA reunion.

Bob also co-authored a Harvard Business Review article (with Prof. Boris Groysberg) on “How to Get the Most Out of Your Peer Support Group: A Guide to the Benefits and Best Practices.” The article draws on his experience working with YPO and HBS forums, and serves as a manifesto, a call for many more people and organizations to join and create peer forums.

AFS continues to support HBS clubs, other educational institutions, associations, and corporate clients, offering a full range of forum design, training and facilitation services, and an extensive library of best practices and other materials to support individual forums.
Bob Halperin on the Power of Peer Forums