Get to Know the Young Professionals Network, a City of Charlotte ERN

The City of Charlotte is proud to host a variety of Employee Resource Networks (ERN), where employees have the opportunity to connect with people of similar interests and work together on community events.  

This September, in honor of National Workforce Development Month, we’re highlighting an ERN that embodies this month-long observance in all that it does: Young Professionals Network (YPN).  

YPN was established in 2023 with the intention of providing connection, growth and development for young professionals across city departments.  

Get to know a few YPN members below as they share the importance of their ERN and how it helps the city amplify workforce development initiatives.  

Tell us about yourself. 

Gayla Johnson: Community Engagement Specialist, Housing & Neighborhood Services  

Ezi Tsogli: Business Analyst, Charlotte Water  

Kia Preston: Digital Platform Specialist, Charlotte Douglas International Airport  

Trevor McGee: Engineering Project Coordinator, Charlotte Douglas International Airport  

Jasmine Timmons: Senior Administrative Assistant, Contracting & Procurement  

How did you find out about this ERN?  

Johnson: I found out about the Young Professionals Network through a colleague of mine. He told me to check out CNET [the city’s Intranet portal] when I first came to the City of Charlotte. So, I joined, and I thought it was pretty cool for me to connect with young professionals across the city.  

Tsogli: I learned about YPN through internal communications and a colleague. When I heard about it, the mission of YPN truly resonated with me. It focuses on career development, community engagement, and it creates also a connection between employees. So, I was eager to be involved.  

Preston: One of my coworkers mentioned that the city was doing ERN’s, and she pretty much showed me that the Young Professionals one would be a good one for me.  

McGee: I actually found out about YPN on my first day during orientation. They had a segment about the different ERN’s that are offered for the City of Charlotte employees. Probably a week after, I went on CNET, looked the different ERN’s up and YPN just stuck out to me.Timmons: So, I actually found out about it on my first day in orientation. I remember Alease Gibbs giving the presentation, and I made a little note about it, but I didn’t actually join until, I think, December. In CROWN Weekly [the city’s internal newsletter] there was an ice-skating event, and I was like alright let me see if this is my opportunity, and I went and had a great time.  

Why is having this space so important?  

Johnson: It’s very important, because I’m able to connect with other young professionals across the city, build relationships, you know, learn more about what they do and just create community here at the City of Charlotte.  

Tsogli: It provides a supportive environment for young professionals, because it gives us a place to exchange ideas and build relationships.    

Preston: I was very new to Charlotte at the time. I didn’t know anyone in the city when I moved here, and I also was new working for the City of Charlotte. So, I thought it was a great way for me meet new people, to explore the city. It’s a very big city. It’s a lot of moving parts, a lot of things going on, and I just kind of wanted to get out of that airport bubble.  I thoroughly enjoy working at the airport, and I love it, but I just wanted to see what else was out there for me and how I can make connections and just network with other people who were either the same age as me, younger than me, (or) new in their career.  

McGee: I think it’s important because it gives you an opportunity to connect with people outside of your immediate coworkers. You know, it just gives you an opportunity to share your experiences and listen to other people’s experiences and maybe understand how they juggle being a young professional. 

Timmons: I think being a part of the City of Charlotte, because it’s so large, it’s easy to get siloed in your own departments or scope of work. And so, I think the ERN’s, in general, are really important because they offer a sense of belonging. They offer a sense of community, and I think that really fosters a sense of connection. I think YPN is positioned really uniquely in that we’re kind of like the gateway to your professional career or like the foundation for shaping what professional career (can) kind of be like. 

YPN members pose for a photo during an outing at Camp North End.

September is National Workforce Development Month. What are some of the ways YPN supports workforce development within the city?  

Johnson: How it incorporates workforce development would be just us having a space where we can give back, where we can grow professionally and personally. We have different types of events that we do, just so that we can learn more about each other and help each other grow.  

Tsogli: I think the ERN helps young professionals gain mentorshipand create connection with other departments across the City of Charlotte. So, it basically helps young professionals to grow and to prepare themselves, to embrace or take on leadership roles in the future.  

Preston: The way that we tie in workforce development is we do offer various styles of events and activities. One of the resources that we offered was for our young professionals to come in and take headshot photos where (we) could use those headshot photos to kind of beef up our LinkedIn accounts just to be more marketable either within city positions or just external outside of the city positions. Some other ways we’ve helped the community is just by giving back our time. A lot of the community service activities that we’ve been a part of, the coordinators were excited to have us come in and help support them through their work.   

McGee: So, YPN has kind of three different committees within it. It has an education one, volunteer one and a networking one. Each of those different committees host different engagement groups, whether it’s volunteering to feed the less fortunate, different development panels or just social outings where you all come together and just have lunch maybe one day out of the month.  

Timmons: I feel like workforce development is really about investing in people, and that’s exactly what YPN does. We invest in their social lives with engagement opportunities, volunteering with giving back to the larger city of Charlotte with just personal development opportunities. So, I think it really aligns with that well from an internal perspective, and then also from an external perspective, for example, we just had a sandwich making event for the homeless. We had our YPN shirts on, and we had so many people come up to us and just ask who are you? Where are you from? How can I be a part of this?  What’s your next event? It’s just exciting to see that there’s an opportunity there for workforce development and the YPN or all the ERN’s to kind of collaborate more collectively.  

What person, place or thing inspires you that you think more people should know about?  

Johnson: I would say Jesus. I love this show called The Chosen on Amazon Prime, where it just follows his life and his teachings. I feel like the show shows compassion, kindness, leadership, and I feel like I want to possess that personally and professionally as I connect with more people here at the City.  

Tsogli: Maya Angelou. You know, her strength, her wisdom and her ability to uplift others truly helped me when you read her book or listen to some of her interviews, her works help you grow and gives you resilience and even empathy. You know, those qualities are important for us who serve in our public sector.  

Preston: Well, I’m a heavy Afrobeats connoisseur. I love listening to Afrobeats music. I think a lot more people should listen to it. It’s very upbeat. It keeps me pretty positive. Just the music, the chanting, the drums, all of it just kind of coincides with my personality. Even if I’m having such a not so good day, I feel like the music just kind of brings more positivity into my space and it helps me to be able to rub that positivity off onto others.  

McGee: It’ll probably have to be Nick Bare. He’s an endurance athlete. I’m very into running and things like that. So, his philosophy is just as long as you stay consistent, you’ll see your accomplishments or what you’re working at, as long as you stay consistent.   

Timmons: I would say Etta James. I think she lived her life very authentically, very unapologetically. She wasn’t afraid to reinvent herself while still staying true to herself, and I just really respect that radical authenticity. I try to reflect that in my own life, in my own way.