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by Cory Jensen -
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The Young Professional Advisory Board (YPAB) is moving into a new era of leadership and strategic challenges. Current activities and strategic thrusts involve: transitioning the board into committee status (i.e., YPC), redeveloping leadership structure, continuing to grow membership (e.g., via links to local sections), and to take on new responsibilities (e.g., establish a global student competition).
Being involved with YPAB over the course of the last few years, it has become evident that our need to establish and maintain links to leadership remains critical. The evolution of YPC has only been made possible by excited young professionals (YP) who work together to contribute to the excellence of the institute. This dynamic allows for YPs to suggest and promote change at a time when institutional leadership programs are evolving. If you are a young member who would like to get involved and are looking for a flexible way to do so, the YPAB is a great opportunity.
Looking towards 2012
Accelerating towards the Spring 2012 meeting, YPAB will witness Kate Gawel take over as chair and is actively seeking out a vice-chair. It is a very exciting time to be involved and move the new committee into formal professional roles. YPAB allows young members that would like to get involved the flexibility to make a difference in new and innovative ways.
Tim Olson commented that he is impressed with how YPAB has grown and evolved over the last few years. Progress has been made possible partially by enablement, with examples including socials via division sponsorship, institute-supported YPAB initiatives (e.g., YP-Fellows mentoring program), and YPs taking the initiative to make events happen (e.g., House Parties). In the future, I look forward to witnessing how YPAB continues to have a positive impact on the institute.
At the 2011 YP strategic planning session during the annual meeting, participants included: the National office (represented by Martin Clancy and Arjun Gopalratnam), Honduras, a student Chapter (University of Connecticut), the Fuels and Petrochemicals division (Tim Olson). Several regional sections were also represented, including: the Rocky Mountain (Nicole Brazier and myself) Gulf Coast (Bryan Daly, Bryan Pourchot), Midwest, Atlantic (Robin Ng), and Southeast (Amanda Robin) sections.