Jeremiah Stevens, director of alumni relations at Lake Forest Academy in suburban Chicago, contends with a bit of an unusual challenge. He must manage and motivate not one but two alumni boards. While alumni professionals may not share Stevens' particular circumstances, they certainly can relate to a struggle to jumpstart a languishing board and professionalize its functioning. A growing number of chief alumni officers are striving to make the alumni board a more strategic entity. For most institutions, that involves aligning the mission and goals of the alumni board with those of the institution. Volunteers at independent schools, colleges, and universities are taking on greater roles and responsibilities in engaging fellow alumni; increasing participation in the institution's annual fund; and oftentimes, making a gift themselves at a certain level.