America’s Best Cities for Young Nonprofit Professionals
This weekend Forbes.com released their list of America’s best cities for young professionals. To determine which cities made the cut Forbes.com measured unemployment rate, predicted job growth, cost of living, number of high profile companies, and concentration of graduates from elite schools (which indicates concentration of talent and career minded people).
While reading the list I couldn’t help but wonder what makes a city attractive to young nonprofit professionals. On the one hand, these measurements are important for all young professionals regardless of sector. For example, nonprofiteers especially want their money to stretch far–since we tend to make less of it compared to our for-profit peers–and are anxious to thrive while supporting their cause.
Yet I think the measurements offered by Forbes are incomplete when it comes to careers in the nonprofit sector. I find nonprofit work to be an after thought, not really included as a serious career choice or its employees having unique employment needs. Beyond money though, a culture where nonprofit work is valued results in a stronger professional and personal network, a sense of being part of the city, and opportunities to grow. Therefore, I wanted to brainstorm some measurements that might be important to young nonprofit professionals:
Size, job growth, and types of positions in the nonprofit sector: Essentially a snap shot of employment trends in nonprofit work in each city. These kinds of statistics show how sustainable the sector is in that particular city and if I can grow there.
Vocal nonprofits and partnerships with for profit and government: This indicates that the nonprofit sector has a strong presence in that city and that they are equal players in shaping the city.
Rate of volunteering: A city with a culture that fosters giving back, keeping nonprofits and public service at the forefront of city life.
Number of active young professionals groups or opportunities for meeting: To me, more important than the presence of graduates of elite schools is whether or not they are connecting around causes that are important to them. How easy will it be to find my peers, especially if I am new to the city or the sector?
I want a city where public service isn’t seen as an afterthought or nice idea–it is seen as a critical component of city life and its sustainability is viewed as crucial.
New York City would make the cut for me. In New York City, employment in the nonprofit sector grew in 2009 while it shrank in all other sectors. The nonprofit sector also increased employment of people between the ages of 16-24 by 17%. I’ve been able to connect with tons of people and organizations through YNPN-NYC and various other young professionals groups–not to mention all of the conferences that are held here each year. I’ve seen nonprofits–from grassroots to large institutions–mobilize to protest budget cuts and work with Mayor Bloomberg in launching new initiatives to support the nonprofit sector. We making progress in terms of volunteering but that cost of living still gets under my skin!
What do you look for when choosing a city for your nonprofit career? Any cities stand out to you as being great places for a career in the nonprofit sector?
Other posts you may find interesting:
I wrote a post on the Forbes rankings and their shortcomings last week(click on my name if you want to check it out). I also added in that having a strong start-up culture was viable to areas that are good for young professionals. Also, my goal with my YNPN chapter is for it to spur economic development in all sectors, and build on our legacy of philanthropy and volunteering to the point where job growth is growing.
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ajlovesya Reply:
June 30th, 2010 at 9:03 pm
I love the idea of focusing on a strong start up culture. It definitely showcases the level of creativity and entrepreneurial spirit in a city–plus resources available to launch ventures! Thanks for sharing Kristen!
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I would definitely add Denver to the list. Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper set up one of the first offices to help connect nonprofits, business, and government and this office, the Denver Office of Strategic Partnerships, has served as a model for other communities. Denver also has an active YNPN network which supports new and more established young professionals with professional development and networking opportunities. Although our foundation community is not perfect, I have found that a lot of the horror stories about funders that I hear from others just do not happen here. And, Colorado has one of the highest concentrations of nonprofit organizations in the country, which means we have a fairly consistent pool of interesting jobs available.
I see two challenges in our community of nonprofits. First, there are very few strong voices of leadership in Denver’s nonprofit community. I hear mostly the same boring messages from the same players over and over. Second, even though Denver is known as a fairly creative town, I don’t see that creativity tranfer to the nonprofit community as much as I would like. Our nonprofit sector seems to follow the trends created in other communities, instead of providing leadership in our respective fields. There are, of course, exceptions to these two things and pockets of really interesting innovation do exist.
Overall, I would not hesitate to encourage young professionals to consider Denver as a top city for building a mission driven career in social change work.
Great post, Allison!
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ajlovesya Reply:
June 30th, 2010 at 9:08 pm
Oh Sarah, when I visited Denver for the EPIP conference back in April I fell in love and vowed to come back. From the few nonprofiteers I met it definitely energized me and I’m trying to stay on top of whats happening in the nonprofit scene there!
You raise a great point when it comes to hearing the same voices and this is a challenge I hear frequently among folks active in the nonprofit community. We all attend the same conferences, same meetings, generally know the same talking points. One of the things I have noticed is that many folks who work at nonprofits dont necessarily view themselves as nonprofit employees but rather as members of their cause so perhaps they dont participate as much in these kinds of conversations. How can we reach out more (or at least get new topics to talk about? If I hear “these economic time” or “leadership crisis” again Im going to scream!)
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Newark, NJ.. Great city!.. Mayor Cory Booker founded NewarkNow, which is a big nonprofit in the city..
Thanks for the post Allison!
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ajlovesya Reply:
June 30th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
I’ve been watching Newark and hope to hear more about the nonprofit community there! Please keep us informed and share whatever info you have!
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Forbes lists are kind of traffic sluts, but at least they spur great posts like this one. I think you’re right in that the culture of philanthropy in a city can help nonprofit professionals feel like they’re really making a difference. And that “purpose” in their work is really what the profession is all about.
Here in Austin, we’re trying to grow that culture of philanthropy. I’d say we’ve got the youth-culture thing down; now it’s time to create an environment to attract and develop more nonprofit stars.
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ajlovesya Reply:
June 30th, 2010 at 9:10 pm
Monica, I would love to hear more about how you are developing a culture of philanthropy. Based on what I have heard about Austin, it seems like you are in a position for lots of partnerships and collaboration across sectors.
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