By Rosalind Fournier
They are young, mostly in their 20s and 30s. They are motivated, with specific career, personal and social goals. They are passionate, many of them donating a remarkable amount of time and energy to various local nonprofits. They come from diverse backgrounds and work in a wide variety of professional fields, working their way up the corporate ladder—one which they themselves are helping to redefine.
Meet Birmingham’s thriving commu- nity of young professionals. Some of them—such as Jaime Primak Sullivan, aka the “Gossip Girl” who makes regular appearances on Birmingham’s FOX 6 to weigh in on the latest Hollywood buzz— are already well known to many of us. Others are flying under the radar, still gaining prominence in their own profes- sional fields but on track to becoming the region’s next generation of leaders.
Joining forces
Recognizing their many common interests, many of these young profession- als (or YPs, for short) joined forces a few years ago to create an official organiza- tion—Young Professionals of Birmingham —to help them further their common interests.
Mary Cash, a young attorney who recently opened her own law firm in Mountain Brook, was one of the group’s founding members along with fashion writer Amy Bailey (aka “The Fashionista”), who no longer serves on the board. Cash comments on YP Birmingham’s evolution.
“What’s interesting,” she notes, “is how our vision has changed and grown. Originally we were mostly focused on the social aspect—hosting great events that also raised money for charities. But now it’s really evolved into more of a profes- sional organization and getting serious about making Birmingham a better place.”
Strength in numbers
Part of that involves recruiting new YPs to Birmingham, as well as convincing those already here to stay. It’s a matter of strength in numbers, says Sullivan, the board’s current president. Raised in the Tri-State region and currently commuting between Birmingham and Los Angeles, working as a celebrity writer and promot- er among other professional endeavors, she is well-positioned to understand the temptation for many YPs to be lured to other cities. “We were constantly hearing of somebody moving to Nashville, Atlanta or even New York in search of new oppor- tunities,” says Sullivan. “We thought, we have got to provide an incentive for people to stay here.”
Creating ways for YPs to get to know one another is one way that YP Birmingham strives to do that. The theory is twofold: By working to improve the city in general—the group recently held a plan- ning session to brainstorm about Birmingham’s most positive assets, as well as areas they see as needing improve- ment—YPs naturally will feel good about the city and want to come and stay.
Meanwhile, YP Birmingham simply wants YPs to have a chance to get to know one another, with the thought that the more contacts and friends they have, the more invested they’ll feel in the community.
Strategic socializing
To that end, the group holds four to six events a year, each of which benefits a dif- ferent local charity and draws a number of corporate sponsors. From the start, the board of directors realized these events had hit a niche: YPs desperately wanted to get to know more of their contemporaries, beyond colleagues and their own personal circles of friends.
Board member and Events Chair Erin Melaney is a perfect example. “My situa- tion is a little different from some of our board members in that I’m not from here,” says Melaney, who grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and serves as devel- opment director for Girls Inc. of Central Alabama. “I came here for graduate school and ended up loving the city, but I found it really difficult to make contacts, whether it’s friends or other professional people near my age or in similar stages of their careers.” She adds that while she enjoys a close group of colleagues at work, the difference is that many of them are at a point in their lives where they’re too busy with family life to meet up and socialize after hours.
Melaney began attending YP Birmingham events and found a ready- made community of peers. She later inter- viewed and was accepted to become a board member and has become so active- ly involved that she, along with other board members, dedicates several hours a week of work to the group and its mission.
Board member and YP Birmingham Public Relations Director Krista Conlin is from Birmingham, though she moved away for six years before returning to her hometown. She says that before becoming involved in YP Birmingham, she already knew a lot of the city’s young profession- als through her own work and personal contacts. But not nearly as many as she thought. “It’s amazing how many people you realize you don’tknow,” says Conlin, who is vice president of business operations at WilbanksAgency Public Relations and Marketing. “What’s beautiful is that withthose already here to stay. It’s a matter of strength in numbers, says Sullivan, the board’s current president. Raised in the Tri-State region and currently commuting between Birmingham and Los Angeles, working as a celebrity writer and promot- er among other professional endeavors, she is well-positioned to understand the temptation for many YPs to be lured to other cities. “We were constantly hearing of somebody moving to Nashville, Atlanta or even New York in search of new oppor- tunities,” says Sullivan. “We thought, we have got to provide an incentive for people to stay here.”
Creating ways for YPs to get to know one another is one way that YP Birmingham strives to do that. The theory is twofold: By working to improve the city in general—the group recently held a plan- ning session to brainstorm about Birmingham’s most positive assets, as well as areas they see as needing improve- ment—YPs naturally will feel good about the city and want to come and stay. Meanwhile, YP Birmingham simply wants YPs to have a chance to get to know one another, with the thought that the more contacts and friends they have, the more invested they’ll feel in the community.
Open membership
Though joining the board of YP Birmingham—there are currently 12 directors serving—involves an extensive process of interviews, becoming a mem- ber requires nothing more than attending an event and putting your name on the mailing list. (Conlin considers YP Birmingham’s well-guarded list of con- tacts one of its most valuable assets.) There are no dues, other than paying an entry fee to the events. Some members attend religiously. Others, such as Anthony Oni, are more loosely involved but still feel they benefit from the con- tacts.
“It’s an organization where no matter what event you go to, you’re always going to meet a new friend and build a new rela- tionship,” says Oni, who works in eco- nomic development for Alabama Power.
“It’s critical to the fabric of the city because that’s where the city gets its vibrancy. I think that organization is absolutely critical to our community’s long-term growth.”
Passion for giving
If there is any one defining thread among the membership of YP Birmingham, it’s their zeal for helping local charities by raising money, serving on various boards and donating their time. Board member Wesley McGugin, a senior licensed financial specialist for Wachovia Bank, believes YP Birmingham does an additional service to its members by introducing them to charities they may not have known much, if anything, about. “Since we partner with several differ- ent charities for each event we host, those charities always have a table set up with representatives available to talk about what they do,” he says. “So not only are we raising funds for them through the admission price, we’re giving our mem- bers a good way to interact with them and really understand what that charity is about.”
McGugin, who was first introduced to YP Birmingham by meeting representa- tives at a separate YP Expo held annually by the Birmingham Business Alliance (which publishes Birminghammagazine) says that interaction often opens the door for people to begin working with those charities. “Often, you find that this is something you want to be involved with,” he says. Clearly this is the case: YP Birmingham members work and serve on boards for groups ranging from Camp Smile-A-Mile to the Rotaract Club of Birmingham. Several are involved with the Greater Birmingham Humane Society as well as the Shelby Humane Society, as well as the Service Guild of Birmingham, the Civiettes, Mitchell’s Place and Gateway, just to name a few.
Tomorrow’s leaders?
It may be too soon to predict whether the leadership and members of YP Birmingham are posed to become the tomorrow’s corporate, civic and profes- sional leaders of our community. But they seem well on track: When one combines their cumulative ambition and energy with a level of across-the- board networking that seems to run like a well-oiled machine—the group plans to double its current membership of about 2,700 members within the next year—it seems likely this could be the case.
“We try to see ourselves as young leaders in each of our respective fields,” Conlin says. “We’re the generation that’s going to be leading the Birmingham later, and if we can con- nect with one another and the commu- nity now, think what we can accomplish down the road.” She adds that the group is also beefing up ability to facilitate net- working through the coming release of the YP Guide to Young Professionals— an online who’s who of local people working in nearly every professional sector, sponsored by ServisFirst Bank.
Brent Barringer, who works in accounting with the Tidwell Group P.C. and serves as YP Birmingham’s vice president of finance, stresses that this is why YP Birmingham works so hard to keep the community’s young talent at home. “Young professionals are the key to sustained growth over time,” Barringer says. “You don’t know who’s going to have the next great idea that might blossom into the next Fortune 500 company, and you want to make sure that person is committed to being here.”
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Birmingham, Ala., June 24, 2009 – At the ASA awards banquet held Tuesday evening at The
Themocracy