YES! Columbus

Young Executives for Success Columbus

Volunteer Opportunities

The Greatest Galetine’s Day

Rachel Palmer, YES Advocacy Chair, shares about her first time at YES! Columbus’ Galentine’s Day event. 

The purpose of the Galentine’s event is to come together as a group, network with other young women, and celebrate the empowerment of women right before Valentine’s Day and Super Bowl LVI—Go Bengals!

Takeaways from the event were meeting new ladies that share the common goal of YES! Columbus. We learned of new memberships and those that want to attend future events and volunteer with both Yes! and DFS.

This event is important because it helps us kick off our year together and promote the initiatives and events for DFS. We also took some time during the event to make empowerment cards for DFS clients. All profits earned through YES! Columbus go directly to DFS to support their mission and provide professional services for their clients.

If anyone was unable to attend this event, they can still get involved by joining us a a member and signing up to volunteer at our future events and After Hours.

We transformed the Lookout room upstairs at the UA Co Hatch and had a ton of Galentine’s treats and refreshments.

YES! Columbus Year in Review 2021

With the new year fast-approaching, YES is taking time to pause and reflect on everything we’ve accomplished this year–and what a year it’s been! None of this would be possible without our members. We want to give a big thank YOU for making this year a success. To our amazing members who joined us at Member Meetups, volunteered at After-Hours, or donated at Cheers!, we can’t wait to see what the New Year brings. 

Let’s take a look back at what we accomplished together:

March After Hours
Dress for Success Columbuss

We kicked off 2021 with the first event of the season – After Hours. The night was a success, as we helped complete special projects and enjoyed a night of serving and connecting with fellow YES! Columbus members.

Sweat for Success: Moves and Mindfulness with Divine Impact Fitness
The Fitness Loft Columbus

One of our biggest events of the year! We danced. We laughed. We sipped mimosas. Practicing mindfulness and empowering one another through fitness was a great way to kickstart the weekend.

Spring/Early Summer 2021 FAB Sale
Dress for Success Warehouse

The FAB Sale was a huge success, thanks to all who came out and volunteered at our pre-sale After-Hours and on-site during the sale.

Sweat for Success Series with Club Pilates
Grandview Club Pilates

Another great success that helped raise funds in support of the community. We stretched, got sweaty, and were sure to get in those extra pulses. Who knew a workout could be so challenging and fun?

Volunteer with YES at Polaris Night Market Charity Beer Garden
Grandview Club Pilates

In collaboration with Polaris Night Market, managed by the Columbus Young Professionals Club (CYP), YES! Columbus served as the Charity Beer Garden host in partnership with Endeavor Brewstillery. Thanks for coming out and sipping with us!

YES! Columbus Membership Open House

Our board members attended several YES open houses and talked about the benefits of YES membership. We were excited to see fresh faces as well as familiar ones! If you haven’t already, pop into one of our upcoming open houses and bring a friend to learn more about membership and opportunities within the YES community.

CYP Week: Leading with Empathy
COhatch Upper Arlington

Such an engaging room of panelists and fresh faces! We appreciated the honest chat about what it means to engage in the workplace as a modern woman, pursue professional success, and the challenges and opportunities presented as women are empowered in this unique moment in history. We wish we could go back and do this one all over again!

YES Headshot Event
Flat 51

Lights. Camera. Headshot! One of our biggest events of the year saw a big crowd come out to get an updated look for their LinkedIn page and other professional profiles.

YES October Member Meet-Up: Fueling into Fall!
COhatch – Easton

How yummy was this? We learned how we stay fueled and boost our energy while making tasty, energizing on-the-go treats guided by local chef Kim Doran! We couldn’t have asked for a more festive way to refuel and kick off the Fall season. 

CHEERS! to Success
Gravity

Last but certainly not least, Cheers! was the perfect cap to the year. We enjoyed seeing both new members and old, munching on yummy hors d’oeuvres, and bidding on beautiful packages of local goods and services that support a great cause. Cheers to a fabulous year and we can’t wait to see you in 2022!

Outside Your “9-5”

Grind culture. Hustle. Team “No Sleep”. The pressure to perform is apparent now more than ever. Work is no longer just a means of providing financial stability, but our performance is tied intrinsically to our identity and sense of self. With the pandemic forcing many into remote work and technology ensuring we’re virtually never unreachable, the boundary between work and home has become even more blurred. People are feeling the effects of pandemic fatigue, with a reported 9.8 million U.S. working mothers alone reporting feelings of burnout. Yet as conversations around the importance of mental health and wellness have increased, many are seeking more balance and fulfillment outside of the workplace.

So that begs the question, just how do you begin to cultivate a sense of purpose and meaning outside of a “9-to-5” or whatever your work hours may be? How do you find balance whether you’re a young professional putting in extra hours to prove yourself or an experienced executive juggling a multitude of responsibilities? Below are some of our favorite ways to explore our passions “after hours”:

Volunteering

There really is no wrong way to get started with this one – the great news is you don’t need any special qualifications, just time! There are so many impactful organizations and causes you can get involved in. Whether you have a talent for data entry, organizing, or connecting with people, there’s a niche somewhere where you can give back. Research shows that people who volunteer just once a month experience better mental health benefits than those who volunteer infrequently or not at all. At YES, we provide volunteer opportunities on evenings and weekends to accommodate all work schedules! Whether it is helping out in the Dress for Success boutique during our monthly After Hours, meeting women where they are in the Mobile Career Center, or preparing for special events like FAB Sale, we try to create opportunities that meet everyone’s needs. Learn more about these opportunities, as well as 29 other amazing Columbus non-profits, in the CityPulse Spring 2021 Citywide Charity Guide!

Hobbies

During the past year, have you noticed people the resurgence of hobbies? That’s because activities like painting, engaging in sports, gardening, or playing an instrument help decrease stress, stimulate the brain to learn new things, and encourage connection over shared interests. If you don’t know what hobbies you enjoy, try returning to activities you used to enjoy when you were younger or asking a friend to teach you more about their hobbies. There are plenty of recreational sports leagues in Columbus, classes for creative expression in a number of mediums, or feel free to try that new trend you’ve been seeing on social media – we won’t judge!

Side Hustles

You’ve probably heard about the growing segment of the workforce referred to as the “gig economy.” People are translating hobbies, skills, and freelance work into viable streams of income. Side hustles can consist of a passion or hobby you enjoy outside of work that you’re able to monetize. While your time and activities outside of work don’t have to solely revolve around productivity and income, engaging in a side hustle can have numerous benefits for your creativity and self-esteem. Learn more about ways you can start a side hustle here.

While we constantly receive messages encouraging us to pour our time and resources into our chosen profession, it’s important to have something that brings us joy and meaning outside of the work day – especially for those off-days (or weeks) when your inbox is wearing on you. The more we open ourselves to finding fulfilment in different areas of our lives, the more room we leave for finding genuine meaning, connection, and happiness!

A Letter to You, YES Community

Hello YES Community!

Brenna here, introducing myself as your 2021 YES Executive Board President and WOW, that feels a little weird to say. Can you believe we’re only a few short weeks away from 2021? It’s pretty hard to imagine when this past year has felt as long as five years and as short as two months all at once. Like many of you, I can hardly wait to start planning for next year. But before I get ahead of myself, I’d like to take a moment to celebrate 2020. Again, feels a little weird to say! However, despite all of the challenges and roadblocks we’ve experienced this year, I can’t help but be proud of what YES was able to accomplish. 

We dug deep, got creative, and put in the work to make sure Dress for Success could persevere for women in need. Like many other businesses and nonprofits, Dress for Success Columbus was greatly impacted by the stay-at-home order and other necessary protocol changes in response to COVID-19. When the boutique was able to re-open in May 2020, YES members were some of the first volunteers in the door! Since then we’ve continued our commitment to Dress for Success’s programmatic and financial sustainability. Whether we were volunteering at additional FAB Sales, supporting D3 and Beyond the Suit, or redesigning our fundraising strategy, the YES community has shown up and SHOWN OUT. 

We focused on mental health and supporting one another through difficult times. In a year where it was impossible to ignore or put off the stress of changing work expectations, the loss of regular personal interaction, and other life disruptions, YES chose to emphasize mental health for our community. In May we ran a Mental Health Awareness campaign on our social media channels, including an IGTV series highlighting some of Columbus’s self-care gurus! In June we invited members to “De-Stress with YES!” providing the opportunity for a very important and therapeutic conversation about inequality in our community. Just this month, my fellow Board Member Jenn Cartmille opened up about her mental health journey in honor of World Mental Health Day on our blog. We all know that mental health is essential to our well-being, but I’m so grateful to be a part of an organization like YES that truly makes it a priority.

We learned A LOT about working from home and continue to create opportunities to grow virtually! If you’re anything like me, the transition to working from home was a struggle. I went from working “hands-on” and traveling three days a week to sitting behind a screen at a makeshift office in my dining room. Still, I was blessed to remain employed. Not all women in our community were so lucky. So in this last half of the year, we’ve made it our priority to find new ways to support women in the workplace and getting back to work. Hopefully, you were able to join us for the Know Your Worth Panel where we talked about salary negotiation and career advancement. Or maybe you were able to snag a new headshot for your conference calls at our annual Headshot Event! If not, there’s still time to join us on Nov. 10 for our Networking from Home event with Chris Borja! The rules are changing every day as we all adjust to “the new normal.” YES is as committed as ever to making sure you have the support and resources you need to succeed!

WOW, again. What a wild, sometimes frustrating, and yet wonderful year it’s been. But what comes next? It’s still hard to say what 2021 will look like, and if it’ll even be all that different from 2020. I can tell you that for me, and my vision for YES, the goals are simple and true to what they’ve always been. I want to keep building our community, making YES a space where every woman in Central Ohio feels represented, valued, and empowered. I want to continue innovating, finding new ways and new partners, to not only support but advance the mission of Dress for Success Columbus. Finally, I want to keep growing. Personally, alongside you, because of you, for our future, for the future of women we’ve yet to meet and in-service to those who have come before us.

The thing I’m looking forward to most is to keep connecting with all of you – I am a part of YES because the opportunity to serve alongside empowered women is essential to the success of all. I encourage you to reach out if I can be of service to you and your journey! I can’t wait to meet you and see what we can accomplish together in 2021. 

– Brenna, 2021 YES! Columbus President

Five Things to Consider Before Joining a Nonprofit Board

As we head into recruitment season for the YES Columbus Executive Board, I can’t help but get excited by the thought of new perspectives and fresh talent joining our cause in 2021. For me,  one of the most fulfilling aspects of my involvement with YES has been getting to work with, and ultimately make friends out of, some of the most amazing professional women in our city.

However, being on a nonprofit board is far more than just a social endeavor. Therefore, I thought it would be helpful to put together a list of some of the most common questions I have received over the years about board leadership. If you are considering applying for one of our open positions, this list should help you determine if you’re up for the challenge and, most importantly, if you’re in it for the right reasons.

1.)   First and foremost, make sure you understand the commitment. YES is a working board, which means that our board members are responsible for ideating, planning and executing all of our organization’s initiatives. It can be time-intensive and the term length is for one full calendar year, so that’s something you want to seriously consider before committing.  I liken our culture to that of a startup – sometimes our processes are a bit scrappy, and the only thing that keeps us accountable to the mission is each other — but we find ways to get the job done. In the end, this work is incredibly rewarding and the impact we have in the community is unmistakable.

2.)   Working boards are a great opportunity to expand your skillset, but know that you’re going to be asked to perform in your role. I am huge advocate of using volunteer opportunities to gain work experience outside of your current repertoire. If you want to go into social media management but you’re an accountant, joining the Communications Committee of a working board can be a great way to get the know-how you’re looking for! With that said, our organization has goals and deadlines we need to meet just like any other. If you join the board knowing you have a learning curve to hurdle at the outset, make sure you head into it with the attitude of a self-starter that’s going to master the requirements of your role pretty quickly so that the organization does not hit any unnecessary speed bumps.

3.)   Understand that fundraising is going to be one of your duties. If you’re not comfortable asking people for money, then nonprofit work may not be for you. Nonprofits rely on donations from corporations and individuals to be able to provide their services to the public. Most people have some level of discomfort with this when they join a nonprofit board, but quickly see how eager the community is to support. Plus, being able to say you have “demonstrated fundraising abilities” is an incredibly valuable bullet point for any aspiring professional’s resume.

4.)   Know that there are going to be growing pains. The best part about joining a board of strong, professional women is how much you’ll learn from your fellow members. With that said, growing pains are bound to occur. YES! Columbus is still very much in its growth phase, and each year we bring on new members to join our cause. Occasionally, disagreements about our direction and vision occur, and sometimes people are generally on different pages. But that’s okay! When joining a nonprofit board, it’s important to remember that your fellow members are humans too, and are just trying to do their best. Learning how to work with other people is part of the experience, and one that will make you an even better professional (and human) in the end.

5.)   Most importantly, make sure you know your “why.” Why do you want to join? Is it for the status of being able to say you’re on a nonprofit board? If so, that probably won’t turn out well for you or the organization. The most effective board members are ones that join because of their passion. Whether that be a passion for the nonprofits’ mission or a passion to grow professionally, you have to be in it for the right reasons.

What questions do you have about joining a nonprofit board? Shoot me an email at yes@dsfcmh.org. I’d love to chat with you!

Individuals interested in applying for one of our open seats can APPLY HERE.

-Erin Hackett, YES! Columbus President

Ways to Get Involved with YES! Columbus

The most frequent question I get in my inbox is “How can I get involved with YES?”. First of all, I’m so glad you asked! We are always eager to welcome new people into our community and are continually inspired by the number of ladies who want to donate their time and resources to empower other women. We’re so glad you’re here!

There are a number of ways to get involved with YES, and the below list is not exhaustive. We are constantly expanding our offering and are always adding new initiatives. With that said, those looking to get more involved with YES could consider the following options:

Become a Member

The most impactful way to join our community is to become a YES Member (or join the YES Squad, as we say). YES Members pay an annual fee of $45 and get access to free or discounted tickets to our events as well as exclusive networking opportunities. Most importantly, the $45 annual membership fee is a donation to Dress for Success Columbus and is about what it costs to provide one client with one outfit to get them interview-ready. When you join YES, you’re not only investing in your own professional growth, you’re also directly impacting the economic empowerment of another woman. Click here to learn more about our membership and to sign up!

Volunteer or Attend and Event

Not ready to take the dive head-first into membership? Checking out one of our events or volunteering with us is a great way to dip your toes in the water. Check out our events calendar here.

Donate

The mission of YES is to support Dress for Success, and we do this via the fundraising dollars we earn from ticket sales, membership dues, and individual or corporate donations. Individuals can donate at this link. For corporations looking to get involved with YES, I’d love to start a conversation. Please email me at yes@dfscmh.org.

Follow Us and Subscribe to our Newsletter

We’d love to see you over on our Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. And make sure to subscribe to our newsletter where you’ll receive notices about our upcoming events and volunteer opportunities!

I can’t wait to meet you!

– Erin

*Due to the impacts of Covid-19, we have had to cancel the majority of our events and volunteer opportunities. We are actively planning alternative ways to engage with our community, whether that be virtually or in a safe, socially distanced way. At this time, we encourage you to follow us on social media and subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date on our offerings. Thank you for your patience as we navigate this new environment, and please reach out to yes@dfscmh.org with any questions.

5 Things We Bet You Didn’t Know About Yes! Columbus

1. Everything (and we mean everything) we do supports Dress for Success (DFS) Columbus.

From the membership dues we charge, to the ticket costs to our events, to the fundraising dollars and in-kind donations we seek from our corporate sponsors — every dime we earn is donated back to DFS Columbus. YES! Columbus is fully owned by DFS Columbus operates under their 501c(3) title.

2. Our number one mission is to support other women.

#Womensupportingwomen is not just a hashtag we use on our Instagram, it’s what we do every day. Our mission is to empower women to succeed professionally and economically. The best part about being a member of the YES community is that you are not only investing in your own growth, your participation also supports the growth of other women in our city. It’s a win-win.

3. Everyone is welcome.

Although our content is geared more toward women (and even though the “Y” in YES stands for “Young”) our community is diverse and open to everyone regardless of age, gender, race, sexual orientation or religious background. If you have a passion for seeing women succeed, you belong here.

4. All of our events, content and programming are the result of the hard work of our board members.

Our Board of Directors is what’s known as a “volunteer working board.” This means that every board member donates their time to YES in addition to holding a full-time job. Everything we do needs to run on as lean of a budget as possible, meaning that we consistently rely on the generous donations (both in-kind and monetary) of our board members, volunteers, and corporate partners. Interested in learning about the amazing women who make up the YES Board? Read our bios here.

5. We think everyone should know about YES

Each time a new community members find us, their first reaction is always, “I can’t believe I didn’t know YES existed before now!” We know, we can’t believe it either.  The empowerment our members experience from being part of this community is unparalleled. That’s why we encourage our audience to tell their friends, family and co-workers about YES. Not only are we are stronger together, the larger our community is the more good we can do for the underprivileged  women in our community.

Ready to increase your engagement with us? Read my post on ways to get involved with YES here!

–   Erin

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