United, YPs Can Shape the Agenda

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“Young Professional” is such a common term, most people don't realize it was only coined just about a decade ago. But YPs are now front and center; cities across the county are fighting to wine and dine us to keep fueling regional economies.
 
I'm proud to be part of this generation. We face great challenges and enormous opportunity. About two-and-a-half years ago, a group of YP leaders and I recognized one such opportunity right in our backyard. With more than 30 independent YP groups in Greater Cleveland, we launched Cleveland ConneXion and created a centralized resource for the entire city.
 
Cleveland is a conservative, Midwest city trying to find its new identity as it sheds its rust belt image. At the time of our founding, local leaders were talking about engaging YPs on key issues, yet only reaching out to a handful of groups.
 
Although these were great groups, they were not representive of Cleveland's YP community. So we recruited one leader from each group to serve as a liaison to our larger platform.
 
Today, we have 30 YP groups, representing more than 20,000 YPs. We have Young Democrats, Young Republicans, Young Catholics, Young Jews, Young Asians, Young Hispanics, and every cultural institution in the city with a YP group.
 
We meet four times a year and hear from public and private leaders on the ways that they would like to engage next generation leadership on local issues.
 
The YP movement has certainly taken root in Cleveland, and we have proven to our community that we are strong, persistent, and important to the future. And we plan on playing a big part in shaping it.