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Our Increasing Voice in the Nonprofit Sector

The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently published a list of 10 nonprofits to watch in 2012. While they are all great groups that I encourage you to read about, I want to call special attention to number 10 – Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN). If you’ve never heard of YNPN and you’re involved the nonprofit sector, you need to look them up (You can find their national information here and if you’re in the bay area, the local chapter’s website is here). YNPN provides training, resources, networking, and more. It’s traditionally been completely volunteer run and it’s free to be on their incredibly helpful listserv which has a plethora of job openings, local events, and advice. Whenever people tell me they’re interested in finding a job in the sector, that’s the first place I point them to.

As the article notes, YNPN has hired its first full-time employee in its fifteen year life. This is huge. Going from an all volunteer run agency to hiring staff is one of the biggest jumps a nonprofit can take. It’s truly a testament to the need for the work the group is doing – there really is a ton of possibility for the group – for advocacy, to enhance educational opportunities, to expand other resources… and the list goes on and on.

This is an exciting moment for us Millenials. The value of our voice in the nonprofit sector is continuing to increase and it’s gotten so big that we’re moving forward in a big way. The article eludes to her next steps, and I’m very excited to see where she and the agency go. Because the sky’s the limit when it comes to the young voice in the nonprofit sector.

-N.C.