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thePeorian.com
The Future
W
hen a small group of
young professionals
decided a few years
ago to form a group, the thought
was it would be a good way for
20-
somethings to get together on
occasion to network.
At the time, they figured social-
izing was probably going to be
the main thing on the agenda.
Much has happened since then;
so much, in fact, people are won-
dering what the Young Profes-
sional of Greater Peoria are going
to do for an encore.
This was the group that put
together its collective energy,
enlisted the aid of other orga-
nizations and spearheaded the
campaign that last May brought
Peoria its third All-America City
designation.
The excitement of that achieve-
ment is still in the air around
Peoria and folks like Dr. Tim
Cundiff, the local optometrist
who chaired the YPGP campaign,
and current chair Emily Weeks
have achieved a sort of celebrity
status.
But don’t expect this group to
rest on its laurels or on any other
cliché you want to put in there.
“
Going forward, we know
there are still a lot of things we
can help with, including things
for the future with the All-Amer-
ica City award,” Weeks said.
“
Other groups, including Peoria
Promise, are now reaching out
to us to assist them because they
have seen what can happen when
the energy and commitment are
there.
“
What we did with the help
of the other groups has already
spurred a lot of people to be will-
ing to do community service. The
All-America City achievement
proved to our group and the oth-
ers what devotion to community
service and community collabo-
ration can accomplish. Everybody
saw how the community came
together. It was something,” she
said.
Weeks is not concerned about
the group of 450 members and
17
corporate members being
able to maintain the momentum.
“
Our group is very engaged.
Keeping the momentum going
is a challenge we are embracing.
We’re not just a networking social
group; we do projects for the
community and we’re going to
keep doing that,” she said.
LOOKING FORWARD!
Young professionals making a difference in Peoria
By Paul Gordon
This is the core group of Young Professionals of Greater Peoria that led the city’s campaign to be named an
All-America City for 2013. At the podium is Dr. Tim Cundiff, chairman of the group when the campaign started.
At far right is the current chair, Emily Weeks, who said the group is taking on new challenges.
Continued on page 46
