By Maggie Matsko
On July 28, twenty of Charleston’s most passionate individuals came out to the Charleston Area Alliance in support of Generation West Virginia’s Lead the Change campaign.
Generation West Virginia’s Lead the Change Campaign is a statewide initiative to empower our state’s young professionals and leaders to identify and lead the changes needed to make West Virginia a destination for the next generation to live, work and play. Generation chapters around the state are leading community action planning sessions convening people of all generations, backgrounds and professions to move from talking about the need to attract, retain, and advance the next generation of leaders and professionals to taking action. The Lead the Change campaign empowers West Virginia’s young leaders to be a part of the solution and lead the changes needed to attract more young professionals to their communities.
Some of the issues discussed at the event were the availability of downtown housing, broadband access, transportation and the nightlife in Charleston.
“The idea behind Lead the Change is to get young professionals talking about what Charleston needs to make them want to stay and grow in the Capitol City,” says Alaina Moore, co-chair of communications for Generation Charleston. “We have identified areas that we think Generation Charleston can make an impact, and we started brainstorming ideas to meet these goals. The hope that we continue these conversations and see these objectives through. Generation Charleston will continue to have Lead the Change events and invite anyone who wants to help make Charleston a place for young professionals to stay. It’s time for young people to stop complaining about our state and start taking action.”
Natalie Roper, executive director of Generation West Virginia was also able to attend the event and expressed her hope for change to come to the Mountain State through this statewide initiative. “We started the Lead the Change conversation with a discussion of what we liked most about living and working in Charleston,” says Roper. “The resounding theme was that Charleston, and West Virginia as a whole, is a place where you can make a difference and impact change even as a young person. That’s what this campaign is all about. It’s time for our generation to step up and lead the change we know is possible in the Mountain State.”
Generation West Virginia will be putting out a statewide report in September analyzing the results of both the statewide online survey and the in-person Lead the Change events around the state to give a comprehensive overview of the challenges and motivations of young West Virginians.
If you are interested in getting involved in the Lead the Change campaign, please contact Natalie at natalie@generationwv.org.
