You’re a young, civically minded leader. You geek out about public policy, solving homelessness and building affordable housing. You want to make our region a better, more inclusive place for people of all backgrounds.
So do we. Which is why we invite you to apply for Crosscut’s Young Professionals Board (CYPB), a group focused on raising the profile of budding civic leaders, and empowering them with leadership trainings, diversity workshops, and opportunities to lead events and initiatives. A board that will have fun together and learn from each other, while also getting some seriously impactful shit done.
The idea for CYPB was born over whiskey and water.
We were sitting with members of Crosscut’s staff, talking about what the future could hold for the Civic Ambassador program, which was approaching the end of its pilot year.
It was about six months in and we had done all of the good Civic Ambassador things — attending monthly meetings, sharing Crosscut stories on social media, representing Crosscut at events, but there we were, still itching to do more.
“So what you’re saying is, we haven’t been asking enough of you?” said Executive Director Tamara Power-Drutis.
With that we decided to launch Crosscut’s — and non-profit journalism’s — first Young Professionals Board.
As Crosscut Editor-in-Chief Greg Hanscom recently pointed out, small, scrappy, entrepreneurial non-profit news organizations have started rebuilding journalism by “banding together in new and creative ways.” Our tenure as Civic Ambassadors gave us insight into the partnerships Crosscut is building to foster a truly collaborative grassroots media network here in the Pacific Northwest.
We imagined how those efforts could grow and expand by bringing the next generation of civic leaders to the table. What could a group of young people — from different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, professions and regions of the Northwest — do when united with Crosscut’s mission and community partners?
From day one we decided this would be a working board — not focused on raising money, but rather on increasing the number of young, diverse voices and perspectives involved in civic discourse.
We want to create an environment where everyone feels comfortable to share their opinions, where everyone is focused on listening to and really hearing different viewpoints — and then bringing those perspectives together into Crosscut events and initiatives.
Now we’re ready for you — the news-loving, civic-minded young professionals who are looking for an opportunity to use and grow your skills in a meaningful way.
Today, we’re launching applications for Crosscut’s first Young Professionals Board, and we hope you’ll apply.
As a board member, you will work closely with Crosscut staff and members to engage a diverse Puget Sound audience in events around civic issues, amplify the voices of community partners, and expand Crosscut’s readership. You will also serve as an ambassador and topic advisor to Crosscut’s editorial team. This will include planning events that can range from small community meetings to large-scale events like Community Idea Labs and the recent Ethnic Media Panel.
We look forward to meeting you, learning from you and impacting the region with you. If you’d like to talk with us more about this opportunity before you apply, we’ll be at the upcoming community events below. Follow us on Twitter to learn other places to find us throughout the month.
- June 7: Advancing Racial Equity and Engaging the Community’s Voice; 7-8:30, Seattle Downtown Library
- June 14: Panel: Racism and the Legacy of Minstrelsy; Rainier Valley Community Arts Center, 6:30 -8 p.m.
- June 21: Biodiversity in the City, 7:30pm, Town Hall
