Conversations and connected communities. It's one thing I think young professionals want to create. A place where friends and colleagues can gather, face-to-face, to talk about important issues with people they like and respect.

I think it's something I want to see. And it's something I have heard my friends say they would like to be a part of and help create. It's a big reason why I am involved in YNPN Phoenix.

The driving force behind the creation of YNPN Phoenix is the idea of connecting people - specifically young nonprofit professionals - and supporting their community. In our first 16 months we have accomplished a lot on the way to that goal.

From the tactical side, we have hosted 13 events with more than 500 people in attendance between those 13 events. We have had some great professional development speakers and fun social events. We are up and running on New Media, like Twitter and Facebook, and we have a robust website with event management software to help us connect with our members.

What we hope has happened in that time is that our members have started to make connections with one another and we hope that is building into a community.

What we hope is members come to our YNPN events because they know they are going to get to connect with a great community of other young nonprofit professionals, nice smart people wanting to change the world. Hopefully at a YNPN event members are connecting with people they knew before ever coming to a YNPN event as well as people they meet through our organization. Both help build a community.

We want our members to be excited about coming to our events because they know it's going to be filled with some great conversation. Robust conversations about how to be a better professional and how to find personal balance, conversations about forming communities and conversations about saving the world. And mixed in all that is a lot of fun and laughing! =)

Sort of like shoving all the nonprofit geeks in one room and shaking their heads around - good stuff is going to fall out!

We hope our members have fun, learn and build community. That's why we exist.

Eventually, we hope the YNPN Phoenix community grows into a deeply embedded aspect of our larger community's social fabric. Young nonprofit professionals aught to be strongly connected to one another, it only makes sense! They are the front line changes makers in the Valley, making our community a better place in which to live and work. We need these people!

If you are interested in a community of young, smart, funny nonprofit professionals, you have found your place - come connect!

Alright, that's about all I have to say on that point today. Thanks to Shawn Rudnick, an MNpS student, young nonprofit professional and YNPN member, for the inspiration!