Tucson Young Professionals, Inc. (TYP) was incorporated as a 501(C)(6) non-profit corporation in August, 2007. The organization formed in response to the growing necessity of a unified voice to represent Young Professionals in Tucson. TYP was encouraged to incorporate by Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities, Inc. (TREO), the Southern Arizona Leadership Council and other Tucson organizations interested in integrating the ideas of Young Professionals into their missions.
We accomplished several goals in our first year. First Fridays was created and successfully implemented in December, 2007, providing Young Professionals with a monthly upscale networking opportunity while promoting downtown Tucson.
In 2007, the organization successfully campaigned to defeat Proposition 200. If passed, the proposition would have promoted urban sprawl by limiting new water connections in the City of Tucson. We determined that the proposition was not likely to lead to the downtown rejuvenation desired by our demographic. The proposition failed by a large margin.
In fiscal year 2007-2008, TYP hosted several guest speakers and monthly social and professional networking happy hours. We also provided our members with many opportunities to get involved in Tucson, including SALC taskforces and other non-profit Boards of Directors.
By July, 2008, TYP grew to 60 members strong. We look forward to promoting, attracting and retaining young professionals in Tucson for many years.