In the final days of 2017, the Young Women’s Alliance has countless memories and accomplishments to reflect upon.
Starting June 1, I took over as President from the very driven, talented, and successful Vanessa Fuentes. It’s been a pleasure to take the reins with such an impressive team of board members and chairs. It’s been a humbling experience, and I’ve loved getting to work with the driven women in our organization.
Our members have given back to the community through thousands of hours volunteering throughout Austin. Many hours were given directly to our community partner, the Girls Empowerment Network through Power Chats, Career Week, and numerous after school programs. I was lucky enough to participate with both the Austin and Dallas We Are Girls Conferences, and got to meet some energetic and engaging young girls.
Members of YWA had the opportunity to receive mentorship of their own. A total of 46 members were partnered with accomplished women in their professional and philanthropic fields. The relationship that I’ve built with my matched mentor has already made a huge impact on my career goals.
This fall, the Development Team worked countless hours to help our members raise an unprecedented $30,000 for our Foundation. During our fundraising season, we heard inspirational messages at our Speaker Series from Brittany Yelverton of GEN and past scholarship recipient Brandi Brown. The season was celebrated at our annual holiday party, with a night of fundraising and toasts to the past year.
With days to go before we ring in 2018, I can’t help but think ahead to some incredible events in the works. We will be awarding several scholarships to deserving women in pursuit of their educational goals, as well as a grant to the Girls Empowerment Network. Our Events team is in the throes of planning our second annual One Night in Vegas, an evening filled with games, food and drinks, and fundraising for the YWA Foundation. This next year also brings forward our 20th Austin Under 40 Awards. This event is not to be missed, with lots of fun surprises and memories from the past 19 years.
I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to lead an organization that had such a huge impact in my own life. My friendships, career, and philanthropic activism wouldn’t be the same without the opportunities afforded to me through the Young Women’s Alliance. Here’s to an exciting 2018!
