Each year at the Holiday Soirée, members of The Network gather to reflect on the accomplishments of the past year and look ahead to the new year in excitement and anticipation for what’s to come.

This year around 70 members enjoyed beautiful views of downtown from the fourth floor of the Discovery Center over festive drinks and appetizers. We socialized and celebrated everything we accomplished in 2019, including having over 500 members, making an impact in our local elections such as the passage of the SPS bond issue in April, kicking off a brand new summit just for young professionals, and launching a new website.

2019 was a great year – and a big reason for that success was the volunteer service of our Leadership Council. Six members had terms that ended this year, so the evening was also a night to recognize them. We thanked Brandi Bartel, Kristin Carter, Laura Head Elliott, Jeff Parkison and Shanda Trautman for their three years of service to The Network. We also thanked our 2019 Chair, Paden Wilcox for dedicating the past year to serving Springfield YPs. Our volunteer leaders keep us going!

As we looked to 2020, incoming Chair Ryan Sivill inspired us and got us excited for where The Network is headed in the new year. We want to show our community just how much we love living here and why YPs choose to stay here.

With the city’s comprehensive planning process, Forward SGF, kicking off this year, The Network plans to represent young professionals for the future vision of Springfield and lead the charge in involvement. We are also looking forward to hosting our second SGForum in June, which will be even bigger and better than last year.

In The Network’s 13 years, we have grown and changed. But one thing that has remained consistent is our desire to connect young professionals to each other and get our members excited about living in this community. The Holiday Soirée was a great reminder of why we do what we do.