A Practical Network for Alumni Impact
ClassACT HRX8 is a nonprofit founded by Harvard alumni of the Harvard-Radcliffe Class of 1978.
It was created around a simple idea: the relationships that develop within a class over a lifetime are among the most valuable and underused resources in civic life.
HRX8 helps classmates and Harvard alumni connect those relationships, experiences, and skills with nonprofit initiatives where they can make a meaningful difference.
Why Classes Matter
Alumni classes are more than reunion groups or social networks.
Over time, classmates accumulate trust, experience, expertise, perspective, goodwill, and long-standing relationships. Most organizations must build these things from scratch. Classes already have them.
Those relationships represent a powerful but often underused civic resource.
The class provides the container. Relationships are the asset. Good initiatives create the opportunity for impact.
HRX8 exists to help those relationships become useful in the service of meaningful work.
The Challenge
Many nonprofit initiatives need advisors, board members, mentors, professional expertise, introductions, and practical support.
At the same time, many alumni want to contribute but are not always sure where their experience can be useful.
The challenge is not a lack of goodwill. It is a lack of connection.
What HRX8 Does
HRX8 helps reduce that gap.
We identify nonprofit initiatives where alumni experience, relationships, and expertise may be helpful, then connect those initiatives with classmates and Harvard alumni who can contribute in practical ways.
Support may take many forms:
Professional expertise
Strategic guidance
Board and advisory support
Institutional and professional introductions
Communications and visibility
Partnerships and network development
Mentorship and problem solving
The focus is practical: helping promising initiatives become stronger, more effective, and more sustainable.
How Alumni Participate
HRX8 is designed to be simple and flexible.
There are no dues, formal participation requirements, or prescribed levels of involvement. Alumni participate where and when they can be useful.
Some offer professional expertise.
Some make introductions.
Some advise initiative leaders.
Some serve on boards or advisory groups.
Some support a specific initiative.
Some stay connected until the right opportunity arises.
The model is designed to make participation easier, not more difficult.
Built by ’78. Open to the ’8s.
HRX8 began with the Harvard-Radcliffe Class of 1978 and is designed to engage alumni across the “8” classes — ’78, ’88, ’98, ’08, ’18, and ’28.
The next phase of HRX8 is about making that model clearer, simpler, and easier for future “8” classes to adapt — beginning with the opportunity for ’88 to help shape what comes next.
Independent and Alumni Led
HRX8 values its relationships with Harvard alumni, students, schools, centers, programs, and affiliated communities. At the same time, HRX8 is not a program of Harvard University, the Harvard Alumni Association, or any Harvard-affiliated institution.
The objective is partnership, not integration.
Core Principles
Classes Are the Vehicle
Class identity provides a durable foundation for participation, continuity, and engagement.
Relationships Are the Asset
Trust, experience, expertise, and long-standing personal connections are the network's most valuable resources.
Projects Create Impact
People engage most naturally through meaningful initiatives where their contributions can make a practical difference.
Participation Should Be Easy
HRX8 seeks to reduce friction between people who want to help and opportunities to do so.
Engagement Is Voluntary
Participation occurs by choice and at the level each individual finds meaningful.
The Work Is Nonpartisan
HRX8 supports nonprofit and civic work without advocating for partisan political outcomes.
Looking Ahead
HRX8 was not created to build a larger institution.
Its purpose is simpler: to help classmates and Harvard alumni turn relationships into meaningful impact.
A thoughtful conversation, a strategic introduction, a professional insight, or a trusted connection can sometimes help a promising initiative move forward.
The goal is not activity. The goal is usefulness.