Meet your 2023-2024 AYP Chair, Allison Alvarez!

My name is Allison Alvarez, and I am the incoming chair of the Abilene Young Professionals Steering Committee. I joined AYP way back in 2015, less than a year after moving back home to Abilene to start my family. I loved my job and was grateful for the opportunity to work in the field that I studied in undergrad. I also had a desire to serve my community without a clear channel to focus that energy, until I found the Abilene Young Professionals. Through AYP, you have the power to shape our community, now and for the future.

If young professionals don’t use their voice, we could very well find ourselves living in a community designed by others. Other people with different goals and values could be the ones to create the policies and infrastructure that define our daily lives. If we stand silent, or even just “check the boxes” in community engagement, we might end up living in an Abilene that doesn’t represent us. That’s why the Abilene Young Professionals group was created, to give a voice to our emerging leaders and use our collective influence to do what matters. Programs like 20 Under 40, the West Texas Young Professionals Leadership Summit, ABIChat, InternABI, and the AYP After 5 events are designed to serve you as you grow in your career and as a community leader. But these programs mean nothing if you don’t use them or tailor them to fit your needs.

In my time as Steering Committee Chair, I challenge you to show up, stock up, and speak up as an Abilene Young Professional. Show up to the programs that matter to you. Stock up – build your network and your resume by meeting new people, gaining new knowledge, and learning new skills at our many educational and networking opportunities. And, most importantly, speak up! If you have an idea to improve an existing program or have a passion with which the Young Professionals organization can assist, let us know. Your Chamber and your AYP Steering Committee are here to serve you.

Soon, you will receive a survey about Abilene Young Professionals. We ask that you complete this survey and tell us what matters to you for the year ahead. Imagine all that we can accomplish over the next year if we all commit to engaging in this organization, and what it will mean for the years that follow. Picture what your next YP event will look like if you commit to showing up, stocking up, and speaking up. AYP helped me build my career, opened the door for countless leadership opportunities, and has connected me to the most amazing people in Abilene. I want nothing more than to continue to support the programs and resources available for you to grow personally and professionally with AYP. I look forward to serving you this year. Please fill out the survey and take a step toward making Abilene and AYP into something that’s meaningful to you.

Allison Alvarez

Director of Marketing, Arrow Ford

2023-2024 AYP Chair