Special Olympics Virginia has always known that the Richmond Chapter of the Young Professionals Board was a force to be reckoned with and last Thursday, the greater Richmond community saw that first-hand.
Each year Chamber RVA holds their annual HYPE ICON Awards. These awards recognize young professionals who make Richmond a better place to live, and companies killing it with YP culture. For the second year in a row the RVA YPB was named a finalist for the Strength in Numbers award, but unlike last year, this year they took home the title.
The Strength in Numbers Award and is described as an award that honors a YP volunteer organization or board that excels in making Richmond a better place for all who live here through providing a place for connection, bettering the community or helping YPs advance their careers. We completely agree that the RVA YPB does all of this and more not only for the RVA young professionals’ community but for the community at large.
President, Jennifer McCourt, reflected on this award stating, “Being a part of an organization where the individuals selflessly want to improve the lives of athletes and their families is the greatest part of our YPB! We truly have strength in numbers when our members come together to support our mission. Our board has impacted the community through fundraising and volunteer events. We enjoy the commonality we all have in wanting to come together to make a difference.”
Each year members of the board think of new innovative ways to engage with athletes, advocate for the mission and grow their footprint. This has proven extremely successful as their involvement and fundraising efforts have grown over the last 6 years with the board raising over $200,000 since it’s inception.
As member Ryan best says it, “the incorporation of young professional boards into nonprofits is a relatively new concept but our YPB consistently shows the big impact that intelligent, generous, and hard-working young professionals can (and do) have in our communities!
Our HYPE Icons award recognizes and affirms the important work that we're doing - our managers and companies can see and value our 'after hours' contributions to the community, other young professionals can see ways to magnify their impact, and we get to know our athletes through our ongoing commitment to SOVA's mission. We truly have Strength in Numbers!”
For more information about the RVA YPB you can join the Friends of YPB List to stay in the loop with recruitment, volunteer opportunities, events and more!
