It’s a topic not discussed regularly in the workplace, but happens every day – code switching. With the work environment becoming increasingly more diverse our young professionals needed a space to have these conversations about how our personal culture weaves its way into our professional lives.

Young Nonprofit Professionals Network-Kansas City hosted a Coffee Talk event in early November to provide a space to have a conversation about code switching in the workplace with local professionals who have had these discussions and experienced code switching in their careers. 

If a white coworker randomly walked up to me with what I thought was light-hearted small talk. She then steered the conversation to police brutality, asking my opinion on a particularly graphic video she saw on Facebook. The cell phone video showed a young black girl getting dragged by a white policeman. Let's just say I was not ready to share my thoughts on this video with a work colleague.

To be honest, at that moment I didn't even have cable and I hadn't for more than three years. In this day and age that doesn't stop me from being informed about what's happening in the world. Once something hits the news (such as a school shooting, an unarmed minority getting shot by the police or a vulgarly expressed and ignorant tweet by a random or presidential celebrity), everyone knows almost instantly, and quickly replies, screenshots and shares the news.

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What did you want to be when you grew up?

Was it a general vision of awesomeness, like YNPN New Jersey Vice-Chair Mallory, who wanted to be “a strong, inspirational woman”? Or was it really specific, like our Associate Director Trystan, who wanted to be a Broadway star?

Recently I have started to cringe at the thought of a new acquaintance addressing me by my first name. Yes, you read that correctly. I have this new found desire to be addressed by my last name. Here's why...

What did you want to be when you grew up?

Was it a general vision of awesomeness, like YNPN New Jersey Vice-Chair Mallory, who wanted to be “a strong, inspirational woman”? Or was it really specific, like YNPN Portland board member Brittney, who wanted to be a veterinarian?

YNPN Chicago hosts a monthly #YNPNChiChat on Twitter, connecting virtually with their members and sparking important conversations within the nonprofit sector. They recently tackled the topic of Board Service to answer potential members’ burning questions about joining a board and hear from experts across the country.

Written by YNPN Chicago Board Member SommerAnn McCullough, below are the key takeaways you should know before joining a board! As a network of 50,000+ young nonprofit professionals, we hope to see you at a future #YNPNChiChat, hosted the second Thursday of the month from 12pm-1pm CT.

Every summer, the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN), the premier organization for emerging leaders in the nonprofit and social sectors, hosts a conference to convene, connect, and mobilize members from across the country. This year, YNPN is partnering with YNPN Atlanta to help galvanize our members around developing trends in the sector, EDI (equity, diversity, and inclusion), social entrepreneurship, and other topics we feel are pertinent to our members and their organizations.

YNPN believes in developing the nonprofit talent necessary to build a just and equitable world. So we’ve developed the YNPN Launchpad Fellows program as a way for talented folks who are interested in building their skills and experience in a very specific area to lend their time and talents to a fast-growing, dynamic organization. Our 2016-2017 Fellows started back in October. Over the next few months, we will be catching up with them to hear about what they've been up to and what they've learned.

This month we'll be hearing from: Luis Roman, our Community Engagement Coordinator!

YNPN believes in developing the nonprofit talent necessary to build a just and equitable world. So, we’ve developed the YNPN Launchpad Fellows program as a way for talented folks who are interested in building their skills and experience in a very specific area to lend their time and talents to a fast-growing, dynamic organization. Our 2016-2017 Fellows started back in October. Over the next few months, we will be catching up with them to hear about what they've been up to and what they've learned.

Up first: Colin Cumming, our Communications Coordinator!

As you may know, for the past few months, we've been conducting a national search for an Associate Director at YNPN National.

We are excited to announce that the search is over and we have hired Trystan Reese to create and execute our overall fundraising strategy to meet our budget in 2017 and lead our efforts to grow that budget in the future. Starting February 1, he will also be our communications mastermind, ensuring that YNPN’s voice and the voices of our members are heard loudly, clearly, and effectively.