FY26 · THE ALUMNI EFFECT
265
Alumni volunteered at our events
2,700+
Volunteers across the district
~500
Teams that need mentors and judges
10,235
Students coming up behind you
Source: FY26 Impact Report.
THREE WAYS BACK IN
Pick up where you left off.
01
Build community & network
Find your people at alumni mixers, in our alumni Slack and through the quarterly alumni newsletter.
02
Volunteer & support teams
Give a day at an event, judge or referee, or mentor a team near where you live now.
03
Alumni opportunities
Our job board, the Alumni Task Force and the Alumni Giving Circle, built for where you are now.
01 · COMMUNITY & NETWORK
Find your people.
FIRST alumni across the region are engineers, electricians, teachers, founders and grad students. Meet them at mixers during our championships, trade notes in the alumni Slack, and hear what’s next in the quarterly newsletter.
Quarterly newsletter
Season news, spotlights and calls for help, four times a year.
NEW TO DC, MARYLAND OR VIRGINIA?
Competed somewhere else? You’re one of us.
FIRST alumni move here every year for school, work and service. The easiest way in is a single volunteer day or an alumni mixer. Tell us where you landed and we’ll point you to both.
02 · VOLUNTEER & SUPPORT TEAMS
Come back at whatever level fits.
Go build your career first. When the timing syncs up, we’ll still be here. Last season 265 of our event volunteers were alumni, and most started with a single day.
1
Give a day
Queue teams, reset the field or run the scoreboard. No experience needed.
2
Take a key role
Judge, referee or inspect. Your FIRST years count as training.
3
Mentor a team
Coach a team near you, with GEARED UP training and Chesapeake Corp backup.
4
Help lead
Join an advisory committee and shape how programs run here.
ALUMNI VOICES
From the team to a doctorate in robotics.
Trey was a student on a FIRST team more than a decade ago. That experience pulled him into robotics, through a doctorate, and into a professorship where his research focuses on robotic safety. Now he volunteers.
“FIRST gave me a lot, and I keep coming back because I really believe in the mission of this program and hope that I can help these students have the same experience that I had.”
Trey · FIRST alum · professor of robotics
“I’ve got two internships in engineering, and it is the exact same thing that I learned in these FIRST programs. How we function, how we problem solve, all of those things.”
Sammy · FIRST alum · engineering intern
“FIRST is an extension of my family. Volunteering is how that continues, and every season I reconnect with people I’ve known for decades.”
Matthew · FIRST alum and volunteer
03 · ALUMNI OPPORTUNITIES
Built for where you are now.
Alumni Job Board
Jobs, internships and apprenticeships from partners who hire FIRST alumni, plus roles posted by alumni.
Venue Planning & AutoCAD Coordinator (Siegel Center)
Virginia Commonwealth University · Richmond, VA
Computer Science Faculty Positions
Howard University · Washington, DC
Data Center Facilities Technician I
Google · Leesburg, VA
Alumni Task Force
A short-term crew of alumni designing what the FIRST Chesapeake alumni association becomes, then handing it off. About five hours a month. First meeting this winter.
Looking for: events, design, project management, community building
Apply to the Alumni Task Force
Tell us where you can help. We’ll be in touch about the first meeting.
ALUMNI GIVING CIRCLE
You were the proof. Now be the reason.
The Alumni Giving Circle pools gifts from alumni at every level and turns them into grants for teams across DC, Maryland and Virginia. Fewer than 1% of eligible students in the region have access to hands-on robotics, and the gap is widest in Title I and rural schools. That’s where the grants go first.
It grows out of the Alumni Ambassador Program, a model built with Booz Allen Hamilton that let a small cohort direct grants to teams. Now every alum gets a vote.
01
Join at $10 a month, the circle’s entry tier. Less than one streaming subscription, cancel anytime. Any gift, once or monthly, makes you a member.
02
Gifts pool into one fund for teams in the district: registration support, mentor training and getting rookie teams to their first qualifier.
03
Members vote on which teams receive grants each season, and every January you get a note showing exactly what your year of gifts did.
OPENS GIVING TUESDAY · DEC 1
Be a founding member.
Add your name and we’ll email you the day the circle opens, Giving Tuesday, December 1. No payment now.
JOIN THE ALUMNI NETWORK
Tell us where you are now.
Two minutes. You’ll get the quarterly alumni newsletter, the Slack invite and first word on mixers, jobs and the Giving Circle.
QUESTIONS
I didn’t compete in DC, Maryland or Virginia. Can I join?
Yes. Anyone who came up through FIRST anywhere, or volunteered with it, is welcome. Tell us where you live now and we’ll connect you with teams and events nearby.
I’m graduating this spring. What should I do?
Celebrate on FIRST Signing Day, pick up your FIRST graduation cord, and join the network so we can find you when you’re ready to come back. The FIRST Alumni Handbook has more on college, careers and staying involved.
How much time does this take?
As much or as little as fits. Joining the network takes two minutes. A volunteer day is one event. The Alumni Task Force asks for about five hours a month.
Where does Giving Circle money go, and who decides?
Gifts pool into one fund for teams across DC, Maryland and Virginia, starting with Title I and rural schools. Members vote on which teams receive grants each season.
What happened to the Alumni Ambassador Program?
It has closed. The Alumni Giving Circle is its next chapter: instead of a small cohort directing grants, every alum who gives gets a vote.
How do I post a job for FIRST alumni?
Use the post-a-job form on our job board. We review each listing before it goes live.
How is this different from FIRST’s global alumni program?
FIRST runs alumni resources and scholarships worldwide. This is your local home base in DC, Maryland and Virginia: the people, events and teams near you.