synerG

synerG Young Professionals is committed to young professional attraction and retention programming, including leadership, professional and personal development, community engagement, and social networking for the city’s young professional community. Through both virtual and in-person opportunities, young professionals in Greensboro continued to learn, connect, and engage in 2022.

To reach the general young professional population, synerG continued to scale and diversify its engagement of over 3,500 young professionals. Each month, synerG offered a variety of ways to engage the young professional community through professional and personal development trainings, volunteer opportunities, and social networking.

Signature events included Lead Your City, synerG’s annual leadership summit, which featured keynote speaker Glenn Gonzales, Co-Founder and CEO of locally-based Jet It. Around 140 young professionals attended a full day of learning and networking at Elon University for this year’s summit. synerG also hosted a virtual Making Connections, an event focused on connecting young professionals to seasoned leaders working in community impact, like Greensboro city manager Taiwo Jaiyeoba. Additionally, synerG, Action Greensboro, and the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce partnered to host the 4 Our Future candidate forum ahead of the July municipal general election. The forum featured candidates for Greensboro Mayor and City Council. The event was held in person at the Van Dyke Performance Space and also live streamed. synerG members enjoyed opportunities to connect at monthly social networking events called On Taps. These drew around 50 young professionals each month and took place at venues across the city, including House Divided, Dram & Draught, State Street Wine Company, and The Abbey Tap House. In August, synerG hosted a special On Tap along with seven other young professional organizations at First National Bank Field. Over 150 young professionals attended the event in August to network, learn about ways to get engaged in the community, and enjoy a Greensboro Grasshoppers game!

In addition to these initiatives, synerG hosted opportunities for YPs to engage with each other through virtual lunch and learns, fitness classes, hikes on local trails, YP Table Talk Instagram series, a downtown business tour, and Dear Greensboro, a placemaking project which will be installed at Blandwood Mansion. Outside of monthly programming, synerG launched a new program this year focused on professional development and networking. synerG Grow Group meets weekly and provides participants with a spotlight opportunity to share who they are and what referrals, connections, or support they are seeking. Grow Group concludes each week with a professional development learning moment. Since its start in July, over 50 YPs have engaged with the group. synerG hosted its fifth cohort of Young Professional Educators Academy, a professional development program for young Guilford County Schools educators. This year, educators focused on career and technical education, spent five weeks learning new skill sets, and discovering the assets of our community. Participants will use their experience in the program to grow their careers within GCS and become better leaders in their classrooms.