Chamber group draws in young professionals

While researching groups nationwide in preparation to launch the Fort Worth Chamber’s Vision Fort Worth young professionals group, organization manager Brianna Broussard saw the importance of having a mentor piece to the group.

The importance was so great, she said, that two such pieces were added to Vision Fort Worth.

Vision Fort Worth, a young professionals’ networking group, offers to mentoring facets: a one-on-one program that pairs young professionals with older, more experienced professionals; and a group mentoring program, in which members meet in groups with a mix of older and younger professionals.

Broussard said the pair is asked to attend chamber functions with one another as well as other networking events, where the mentor can introduce their mentee to a new crowd.

“This is great because you can develop a great relationship and get some wonderful advice,” Broussard said.

But even more important, she said, is the group mentoring program.

In addition to one-on-one mentoring, Vision Fort Worth also created a group mentoring program, which meets once per month in small groups of 12 to 13.

“The group component makes it unique,” Broussard said. “Our members had been expressing some interest in meeting and connecting with one another more in smaller settings.”

The Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce first began working on a young professionals networking program several years before Vision Fort Worth’s April 2007 launch. Broussard said chamber members thought it was necessary because “we were losing some of our young talent to other cities.”

In her initial research, Broussard said she looked at several groups throughout the nation and created Vision Fort Worth, a member-based group serving professionals between the ages of 21 and 40 (but Broussard admits there is little enforcement of those age limitations).

In its first year, Vision Fort Worth had 275 members. Today membership sits at 320. Broussard said the membership is in a large part thanks to the chamber.

And the key to attracting so many eager young professionals?

The events, Broussard said.

From after-hours networking events to private screenings of films set to debut at the Lone Star International Film Festival, Broussard said Vision Fort Worth puts a lot of thought into its events.

The organization is always looking to grow, she said, and in the future, she will look to its programming to lead the way.

“It’s the variety of programming you have that is key. You can attract several different groups if you have a nice variety of programming,” she said.