YGL National had quite a year in 2016 and the leadership team is proud to share those accomplishments because we want you to see for yourself how your contributions helped other Millennials around the country solidify their influence within government and also how your dedication and hard work shaped the future of our organization. Consider this a preview of a more detailed annual report that will highlight the achievements YGL had in 2016 as well as its strategic goals and focus for the upcoming year.

Restructuring and Leadership Selection

In 2016, YGL went through a reorganization and leadership change that led to the alignment of the following governing bodies:

1. YGL National Advisory Panel
2. YGL National Executive Board
3. YGL National Leadership Team

The Advisory Panel includes individuals that have long-term association with the organization. They offer senior-level strategic planning advice to the other governing bodies. The YGL National Executive Board has five members made up of three executive vice presidents, a board member at large and a chairman. This group makes the decisions and provides guidance for all of YGL’s activities. The YGL National Leadership team currently has 22 members divided into three branches: National Presence, Communication, and Relationships; Operations; and Learning, Advocacy, and Member Experience. They are responsible for facilitating and carrying out the daily work of the organization.

2016 also welcomed new leadership with Miguel Joey Aviles stepping into the role of President of YGL previously occupied by Virginia “Ginny” Hill.

Operations Highlights

An organization cannot readily function without solid foundation and the core responsibility for that lies with the operations group. Some of their key achievements this year include:

• Provided a comprehensive position description that clearly stated the job requirements and expectations for each national leadership role.

• Improved the reimbursement process by introducing PayPal as the primary compensation tool and created a standard form that will guarantee consistency and efficiency when tracking YGL’s finances.

• Established a more streamlined process for selecting new leadership members and also developed an onboarding guide that helped new leaders quickly get up to speed.

• Launched the new and much improved YGL website; a project led by the Chief Information Officer in collaboration with other YGL National leaders.

Communications Highlights

If the operations team is the backbone, then the communications team represents the wings of an organization. Here are their major successes in 2016:

• Increased the visibility of YGL through the effective use of social media and at the same time, improved the level of internal and external engagement by empowering and educating members of the national leadership team.

• Enhanced the quality and content of blog posts by highlighting topics that Millennials can relate to the most; as a result, YGL’s blog was awarded with the designation of being one of the best leadership blogs.

• Established a more efficient way of communicating internally through the use of Slack, a real-time collaboration software.

• Executed and solidified YGL’s mission and vision that set the tone for what our organization stands for; it was unveiled and well-received at this year’s NextGen conference which helped increase membership enrollment

Learning, Advocacy and Member Experience Highlights

We do what we do at YGL is for the benefit of our membership and without the learning, advocacy and member experience teams, who serve as the barometer for our organization’s effectiveness, we will be an organization without a purpose. The highlights of their year included:

• The conclusion of yet another successful mentoring program where over two-dozen participants gained new experiences and learned from each other.

• The establishment of a new leadership development program that will help advance the careers of 15 highly talented YGL members.

• Several successful networking events that solidified YGL’s partnership with local organizations such as BIG NOW and PEARLS.

• Completion of several member driven surveys; the results gave YGL leadership great insight into the thoughts and expectations of our membership which leadership then started using to craft strategic goals for the following year.