On Wednesday morning, Young Federal Leaders (YFL) members from across the country gathered for the year’s first YFL conference call to discuss the program’s exciting, new direction. YFL has accomplished many goals in the last year including connecting Locals with their local communities through service projects, recruiting young workers to the Union, providing training and educational opportunities and creating new partnerships among young and seasoned workers. While settling into the New Year, YFL is excited to build on the previous accomplishments in an effort to continue the development of the future leaders of NFFE.
2014 is a year of change, and YFL is undergoing numerous changes. The first and most noticeable change is the newly-designed YFL logo. Accompanying the logo re-design are new informational materials outlining the YFL initiative’s new direction. These materials will become widely distributed in February when included in membership and recruitment kits.
NFFE YFL National Director Kalia Vang continues to work closely with directors of other union young worker programs on the AFL-CIO Young Worker Affiliate Point Committee. With the guidance of likeminded peers, this coalition aims to assist one another in running successful, grassroots young worker programs and tripling the number of young workers in our programs over the next four years. This committee consults with the AFL-CIO Young Worker Advisory Council, working to build a national young worker movement to lead and secure the future of labor.
On the call, YFL members discussed new opportunities to empower young workers. Working closely with the National Assistant Directing Business Representative Jim Davis, Kalia will work with numerous YFL chapters to develop a regional YFL on the West Coast as a result of a sustained enthusiasm from Locals and its young members. In addition, Kalia will work with Locals across the country to identify young NFFE-IAM members interested in participating and shaping the YFL agenda.
In the next few weeks, YFL members will set goals aimed at ensuring young NFFE-IAM members have access to educational opportunities, Local leadership opportunities and access to a reliable mentor. YFL members will also begin to plan its first national young worker training, tentatively set for April. The training will be open to all young NFFE-IAM members committed to YFL’s mission. We encourage NFFE Locals to send the contact information for young NFFE-IAM leaders to identify young leaders at your locals and send their contact information to Kalia Vang at kvang@nffe.org.
For any further information or how to get involved in the YFL program, please contact Kalia Vang at kvang@nffe.org and (202) 216-4420.