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Cornell University

Cornell Experience Modernization Initiative

As common as possible, as different as absolutely necessary

Change Networks

Across CEMI, change networks help project teams build understanding, gather feedback, and strengthen engagement throughout the transition process. While all change networks share these goals, each is tailored to the unique needs of the project it supports. Factors such as the number of departments involved, the scope of the change, and the communities affected help shape how each network is structured and operates. Below, Wes Reel describes the approach used by the Donor and Engagement Experience Project (DEEP) Change Network.

Change Explainers: How Colleagues Are Helping Cornell Get Ready for DEEP

For the past several months, members of the Donor and Engagement Experience Project (DEEP) Change Network have been helping their colleagues make sense of a major transition before it arrives. Representing Alumni Affairs and Development in Ithaca, Weill Cornell Medicine, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, they share information, gather feedback, and help prepare their local communities for a new system that brings three previously distinct approaches together.

Why the network exists

DEEP is replacing three legacy advancement systems with Kindsight Ascend, a Salesforce-based CRM that all three units will share. It will change how teams access constituent and gift data, manage relationships and portfolios, run reporting, stewardship, and operational workflows, and collaborate across units.

The Change Network is one of three pillars of DEEP change work, alongside communications and training, and is designed as a structured two-way channel between the program and the people doing the work.

The role at glance

  • Serves as the local connection between the DEEP program and their unit or functional area.
  • Shares DEEP updates with peers and builds awareness and excitement locally.
  • Gathers questions, concerns, and feedback from colleagues and brings them back to the core change team.
  • Attends regular Change Network meetings, which currently run monthly and may become more frequent during testing, training, and go-live.
  • Responsibilities will expand to review and give feedback towards upcoming communications, readiness approaches, and training materials.
  • Shares perspective on how new processes will affect local work and may serve as a change impact owner within a design sprint team.

How members are chosen

The network has over 30 members: 15 from Ithaca Alumni Affairs & Development, 3 from Weill Cornell Medicine, 2 from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and 1 cross-unit finance representative with team leads added for communication, training, and executive decision-making. Members were recommended by unit leaders and program leads to cover the full range of the work, including annual giving, alumni affairs, major and principal gifts, prospect development, advancement services, data strategy and reporting, events, technology, finance, and training. Within the network, members opt in to rotating roles such as hosting, co-facilitating, and creating content, so ownership is shared.

What the network looks like in practice

Network meetings combine program updates with genuine participation. The August meeting, for example, opened with a trivia icebreaker and a project timeline update, then featured the Epic 1 lead from Weill Cornell Medicine in a live Q&A about what happens in functional design meetings and how the team decides what a difference from today’s process means for people. The session included open floor time for feedback in chat or by voice, an engagement check-in on what members want to see, and a recap of the CEMI town hall.

Members asked for several things, and the program responded to each:

  • More than one way to be heard, so the network now offers group discussion, small conversations, and written feedback.
  • Recognition of the differences among Alumni Affairs & Development, the Lab, and Weill Cornell Medicine, so each unit’s context is named on its own terms.
  • A positive tone, so updates now lead with what is going well alongside what is changing.
  • Patience for people still catching up and attention to pace and workload to avoid burnout.
Members will have several ways to get involved: first looks at new features and demos, feedback on resources under development, reality checks, scenario testing, readiness indicators, and ownership of a Teams channel.

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