Monthly Archives: April 2011

Three More Reasons to Join the Young Professionals Organization in Your City


Posted by ajlovesya

Rebecca Lausch recently wrote a great piece on Brazen Careerist on why young people should connect with young professionals organizations (YPOs). In joining these organizations you have access to networking opportunities, gain greater exposure to your field, can leverage the collective power of those who share your passion. Based on my experience as a member and now board member of Young Nonprofit Professionals Network-New York City Chapter, I’d like to add three more reasons to join the YNPN/YPO is your hometown:

1. It’s never just young professionals: I continue to be amazed by the number employers and high level leaders that participate in our events or actively share resources with our members. You get a valuable opportunity to connect with the movers and shakers in your field who are dedicated to ensuring that we are ready to lead.

2. Opportunities for leadership are accessible: Young professionals organizations are often led by young professionals. Take this as a sign to step up to the plate and go for a leadership position at one of those organizations. Conversely, you can develop skills by volunteering.  Do presentations for members in your field of expertise, help develop an event, or leverage your membership to create or pursue additional professional development opportunities in your community.

3. Save some money while you learn and connect: When I think of the savings some YPO/YNPN offer to members–whether it be happy hour specials, discounts on professional development workshops, mentoring relationships–it quickly adds up to great opportunities that I may have had to miss out on due to financial barriers. Having an organization whose goal is to help you grow without breaking the bank is wonderful benefit.

What do you think?  Are you part of YNPN or another YPO? Share you experiences!


College grads want careers in public service….now what?


Posted by ajlovesya

There have been several stories in the news recently about young people pursuing careers in public service. While I think this trend has been happening for quite some time (some argue the interest was sparked by the Obama campaign and the sluggish economy) what’s missing from the conversation are the next steps. In other words…now what?

Young people have made it clear that they are interested in working for nonprofits. Yet the path to a career in the nonprofit sector is challenging. In response young people have often opted out of the sector as social entrepreneurs and free agents, so I am curious as to how organizations that work with young people are helping them find and engage opportunities in the nonprofit sector. I have two questions:

1. What are colleges and universities doing to prepare students for the nonprofit sector? The sheer diversity of the sector means that there are many paths and many opportunities. This does NOT mean that preparation is impossible.  The first steps in helping young people find their place is exposure, awareness of their own interest and skills, and understanding the sector’s current hiring needs. How are college career offices discussing the nonprofit sector? Are they exposing students to the sector through books, panels discussions, internships, and examples of careers? Are students encouraged to connect their studies to social change work through academic and real life work?

2. How are nonprofits tapping into the sudden surge of millennial interest? There are some organizations that have developed a strong reputation for providing young people challenging and fulfilling social change opportunities. Teach for America, and Global Health Corps come to mind. But the reality is that nonprofits often dont have a plan for recruiting young talent. What does an effective recruiting plan look like? And for the many organizations that have students volunteer with them throughout their college tenure, how are their experiences being leveraging to encourage employment (at your organization or in the sector in general)?

What do you think: how can colleges and nonprofits support and develop interest in public service careers?

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Should social entrepreneurs be more political to build social change?


Posted by ajlovesya

Cheryl Dorsey, Executive Director of Echoing Green, shared an interesting perspective on social entrepreneurs and politics in her interview with Ashoka’s ChangemakHERS:

To achieve wide-scale social change we have to engage the world of politics – this is what Dr. King and Nelson Mandela did so well. You are never going to get to the level or scale of change that is necessary unless we engage the political realm. But so much of the social entrepreneur’s narrative is, “We do our work because the government can’t do it.” But by always linking social entrepreneurs to government dysfunction, we put an unnatural barrier between social entrepreneurs and government. Social entrepreneurs can be critical, we can be skeptical, but we must engage.

She highlights a trend I notice as well: many changemakers see themselves outside of government, as an alternative or perhaps created in response to the inadequate services our government may provide.  In fact, when I think about my peers abroad whose countries don’t have a robust nonprofit/third sector, it is often because  the work we ask nonprofits to do is considered the work people believe government should be doing.

This view of social change and government has always left me a bit torn.  On the one hand I think this view puts limitations on the power of social entrepreneurs.  Can social entrepreneurship ONLY exist when there are government inadequacies?  On the other hand, I think we have  seen social ventures grow to be so powerful and so influential that they do affect how government responds to issues.  So is it a matter of the type of engagement social entrepreneurs opt for is different–through competition and alternatives than face-to-face conversation/confrontation?

What do you think?  Should social entrepreneurs be more political to build social change?  What should that look like?