What are The Rise Young Friends and The Rise Young Professionals Board?

The Rise Young Friends

is a membership group supporting the Rise YPs with a small investment and less commitment. It’s also mandatory if you would like to be considered for the board. You will get access to some great social events plus you will support an active group of young people who really care about revitalization in St. Louis!

Click Here to Join the Rise Young Friends

The Rise Young Professionals Committee Members

work alongside board members on one of the four committees operated by the Rise YP Board: Projects, DEI (Diversity Equity and Inclusion), Events, and Marketing. Committee members are able to be involved and support Rise, but do not have to commit a full year of service or attend regular, full board meetings. When a spot on the board becomes available, committee members have the first opportunity to Rise Up into board member positions.

*PLEASE NOTE: Candidates interested in serving on the Young Professionals Board must first serve as a Committee Member before joining the Board. Please submit a Committee Member application and join one of our committees!

Click Here to Apply and join as a Committee Member

The Rise Young Professionals

The Rise Young Professionals go far beyond providing networking opportunities for our members. We strive to use our diverse educational and professional backgrounds to provide tangible resources for communities to use to help them grow. We have assisted in New Markets Tax Credit applications, produced a strategic marketing plan for the St. Louis Place and JeffVanderLou neighborhoods, and volunteered for many community-based initiatives in neighborhoods that have been marginalized at both systemic and institutional levels. We strive to help our board members understand and further develop cultural competence because we understand the importance of having our membership reflect the needs of the diverse city we live in. Recently we have created a new committee geared towards studying diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) which collaborates with Rise Community Development to help assess their own outlook on the issue.

We are successful and undertake these types of projects because we attract dedicated individuals that are passionate about making a difference. Get involved with us if you share this passion for equitable community development and engagement!

Our Vision

We envision a vibrant St. Louis region empowered by a movement of talented young professionals with diverse backgrounds, skill sets, and ideas dedicated to fostering equitable community development.

The Rise Young Professionals Board

is a group of enthusiastic young talent on its way to becoming a powerful force for advocating revitalization in St. Louis. Started in 2013, the Rise YP Board is a volunteer-run, working board, consisting of 25 to 30 young professionals, who apply, are selected and commit to volunteer for a one-year term. The primary mission of the board is awareness of Rise and our work in the community, fundraising to support the mission of Rise, and utilizing our skills in the community to assist neighborhoods with a variety of projects.

Interested in joining? Email the YP Board at [email protected]

Accomplishments & Community Involvement

The Rise Young Professionals have many accomplishments and milestones since the inception of the group in 2013. Here are a few highlights:

Raised roughly $36,000 for Rise through fundraising events such as trivia nights, pub crawls and other social events.
In 2019, began a collaboration with Cornerstone & Dutchtown South Community Corporation to assist in providing a technical assistance implementation plan.
Provided a neighborhood marketing plan/document capturing the history and development market of both the St. Louis Place and JeffVanderLou neighborhoods for the North Newstead Association
Provided Rise with substantial assistance in preparing $30 Million New Markets Tax Credit Application.
Assisted Rise and Cornerstone Corporation in conducting a survey of 2,500 parcels within the footprint of their community planning effort in the West End and Visitation Park.
Volunteered for the ‘Clean Sweep’ event in JeffVanderLou, a community-based cleaning effort.
Hosted a social event at the Griot Museum of Black History.
Organized a walking tour through the historic St. Louis Place neighborhood, hosted by renown local historian and preservationist, Michael Allen.
Hosted a guest speaker series with Julius B. Anthony, a native of the JVL neighborhood and Founder and President of St. Louis Black Authors of Children’s Literature Initiative
Assisted the Landmarks Association in their parcel survey of properties within the redevelopment plan in the Northside.

About Rise

Rise builds market rate and affordable housing, enhancing the quality of life in the communities we serve. This work helps make St. Louis a great place to live, work, and play. We believe social, cultural, lifestyle, and economic diversity makes area neighborhoods stronger.

Rise acts as a resource and partner to the community. We bring together nonprofit organizations, financial institutions, and government to make successful neighborhood revitalization possible.

Learn more about our work >