CULLMAN – The United Way of Cullman County is reaching out to young professionals of the area to participate in their new program, the Young Professionals Board. Through this board, United Way hopes to utilize the creative talents and skill of younger professionals working in the area.
“The goals of the Young Professionals Board are multi-faceted,” said Stephanie Wood, marketing and communications coordinator. “Through the committees, it our hope that this board will provide our agencies with more assistance through their time and creative ideas, that they will assist us in educating the public on the mission of United Way, and that they would lend their assistance in creating and planning events and fundraisers. As a staff member of United Way, to me, this board is an opportunity to develop invested leaders for United Way that will continue to volunteer, donate or serve in the years to come.”
According to Wood, the board members will be assigned to subcommittees including special events, community relations and education.
The special events committee will work directly with the marketing & communications coordinator to assist with the planning and execution of all fundraisers or special events.
The agency relations committee would work to develop a volunteer base that could be used and contacted by our agencies.
This group will also set up monthly service days with participating agencies for board members and/or volunteers to attend. And finally, the education committee would have the task of brainstorming ways to disseminate information to the public about United Way and its mission.
The idea has been one on Wood’s mind for some time as a way to involve the younger age group in the community.
“This idea is something that came to me in my first week at United Way,” Wood said.
"I was brainstorming ways to get a younger generation involved in the work we do here and the idea of this board just came to be. After that, we researched several non-profits that use a Junior Board. The outline of this board is most similar to a non-profit in Chicago, but overall, this is a mix of personal ideas and items we found in our research.”
United Way is now accepting applications for young professionals ages 22 to 35 years. Those that wish to apply may do so online at UWayCC.org/young-professionals-board-application or e-mail swood@uwaycc.org for a manual application.
“The Young Professionals Board has so much potential to impact Cullman County as a whole,” said Wood. “For United Way, we have the opportunity to invest time in up to 20 future leaders and educate them on the importance of our mission. For Cullman, this is huge, because each year there will be 20 more people that understand Cullman better. They will know the areas we can improve, the areas we are already making a difference in, and they will be able to take that information and use it when they enter leadership roles in the community.”
