Young Professionals mark one year

It was about a year ago when Urban League President Warren E. Logan called together young black leaders to discuss the development of a peer group of professionals to serve as community volunteers.

"The market was prime for Urban League Young Professionals because of the untapped talent in the community as well as the idea of growing future leadership," Mr. Logan said.

The Chattanooga group marks its first anniversary this month with a network of about 70 to 80 members, ages 21 to 40.

Shane Morrow, 40-year-old founder of Creative Underground, a group of local actors, singers and dancers, said Young Professionals is an eye-opener for some.

"I don't think people are aware of how many professional African-Americans there are in the city who want to get together and make a difference," he said.

The group has had personal development seminars, community cleanups and mentoring sessions with CEOs. Members are divided into committees that focus on economic empowerment, civic engagement, personal and professional development and membership.

The Urban League Young Professionals' latest project, To Haiti With Love, is a partnership with the Creative Underground, CreateHere and Lindsay Street Hall to raise $5,000 for the people of Haiti. The money will go to the American Red Cross.

"We as young people wanted to get out there and do something," said James McKissic, a 37-year-old Young Professionals member and chief operating officer at the Urban League.

Wade Hinton, 36, president of the Young Professionals, said many people have seen images of suffering and destruction caused by the Haiti earthquake and want to help.

People of all races have attended and are invited to join the Young Professionals group, said Mr. Hinton, an attorney. However, the group provides an opportunity to discuss problems that may be unique to a minority group, he said.

"It's not the first thing that comes to mind, but there are some issues that are more specific to people of color," Mr. Hinton said. "This organization allows a platform for those issues to be discussed."

The group meets at 6 p.m. the third Thursday of each month. Members intentionally change locations to expose group members to different local locations and to expose people at those locations to the Urban League Young Professionals.

Meetings have been held at the Glenwood Center, Creative Discovery Museum and at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center, Mr. Hinton said.

"Not only do we want to expose our members, we want the community to see us," he said. "The reality is that we have a large pool of talented young professionals here, and we want people to know that.

"When it comes to a question of who should serve on a board ... we want to be thought of as the first place people can go for potential board members," he said.