Millennials Pave the Way as Next Generation of St. Louis County Leadership, Join Us

St. Louis County Government workforce has a thriving millennial population; these millennials are movers and shakers and have shaken things up for the region by establishing the first local government organization for young leaders; the group was formed in 2011 as the St. Louis County Young Professionals and, after an in depth strategic planning process rebranded themselves as the St. Louis County Young Government Leaders (YGL).  The founders of YGL have attracted the national spotlight with an appearance in Governing Magazine (April, 2012) and even coached other governmental organizations nationwide on attracting and retaining younger employees.

The mission statement of St. Louis County YGL covers it all: “Young Government Leaders connect passionate employees from all departments to professional development and peer collaboration opportunities thereby enhancing quality services within St. Louis County.”  This is accomplished through three main areas of focus highlighted in the following tagline: Connect. Develop. Collaborate.

Members connect to one another in monthly Brown Bag Lunches and during regularly scheduled meetings throughout the year.  This is critically important to overcome department “silos” and stay in contact with what’s going on in other areas of the County.  Typically this type of collaboration is reserved only for department heads and high-level management, but as public servants we need to be well informed at all levels so we can provide the fastest service possible to the public.

YGL members are looking for continual opportunities to develop professionally and have been fortunate enough to attract nationally acclaimed speakers such as Cindy Erickson, regional CEO of the American Red Cross St. Louis, Harlan Hodge of Imagine Services, STL transplant and entrepreneur Travis Sheridan, and most recently, Brandon Dempsey founder of goBRANDgo!  These are all speakers who charge upwards of five figures for speaking arrangements and all donated their time to YGL who operates on a $0.00 annual budget because they understand the value of what well-informed leaders in government can bring to and create for our community.

Members are also encouraged to collaborate on special projects to leverage resources and provide better services to our clients (aka residents).  At first glance Public Works and Community Development each have valuable but separate contributions to the County, but when you take a closer look, shared systems which track building permits from Public Works in real time can get low-income families with children off the streets and into decent, safe and affordable housing options available through the Community Development grant programs.  This likely wouldn’t have been possible if not for the collaborative effort of YGL members.

Organizations such as YGL are the future of St. Louis and wouldn’t be possible without the incredible generosity of our guest speakers, support of County Administration and the tireless work of our board members.  If you’re interested in learning more about the St. Louis County Young Government Leaders please contact Michele Williams our Outreach Coordinator at mwilliams5@stlouisco.com.