Fifteen years ago, twelve ambitious nonprofit professionals got together in San Francisco in an effort to create their own change in the nonprofit community. They started Young Nonprofit Professionals Network, or YNPN for short, with a shared desire to build a leadership network in the nonprofit field.
YNPN acts as a self-sufficient career-development community, providing a space for advanced educational learning. Today the national chapter has grown to over 40,000 members, with the largest chapter in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2011, YNPN even received national attention as one of the "10 Nonprofits to Watch in 2012."
The founding chapter of of YNPN - Young Nonprofit Professionals Network San Francisco Bay Area (YNPNsfba) - coordinates events around the Bay area to encourage networking and professional development in the local community.
Recently, I sat down with Nathan Gardner, Director of Technology for YNPNsfba. As an events-based organization, Nathan discussed how they use NationBuilder for monthly event meet-ups, and building relationships and accountability in the local nonprofit community.
"For us, community organizing is the ability to bring together nonprofit professionals from all backgrounds and skill levels to share their knowledge and resources with others. We offer them a place to talk through ideas and skill sets and it happens organically at these meet ups. People in our community are eager to make new acquaintances, collaborate on new projects, and share new ideas. It's about new innovative thinking in our field" said Nathan.
For YNPNsfba, it's all about building capacity for collaboration and new friendships both online and offline, and fostering the professional nonprofit community around California and the country.
